Other editions of book No Hunger in Paradise: The Players. The Journey. The Dream

Shortlisted for the British Sports Book Awards 2018“What’s your dream, son?”A six year-old boy, head bowed, mumbles the eternal answer: “Be a footballer….” Steadman Scott, football’s most unlikely talent scout, smiles indulgently, and takes him in from the street. He knows the odds. Only 180 of the 1.5 million boys who play organised youth football in England will become a Premier League pro. That’s a success rate of 0.012 per cent.How and why do the favoured few make it? What separates the good from the great? Who should they trust – the coach, the agent or their parents?Michael Calvin provides the answers on a journey from non-league grounds to hermetically sealed Premier League palaces, via gang-controlled sink estates and the England team’s inner sanctum. He interviews decision makers, behavioural specialists, football agents and leading coaches. He shares the hopes and fears of players and their parents. He exposes bullying and a black economy in which children are commodities, but remains true to the dream.

Only 180 of the 1.5 million boys who play organized youth soccer in England will become a Premier League pro—a success rate of 0.012%. How and why do the favored few make it? Who should they trust—the coach, the agent or their parents? Michael Calvin provides the answers on a journey from non-league grounds to hermetically sealed Premier League palaces, via gang-controlled housing estates and the England team’s inner sanctum. He interviews decision makers, behavioral specialists, agents, and leading coaches. He exposes bullying and a black economy in which children are commodities, but remains true to the dream.

This is the third part in Mike Calvin’s football book trilogy. First he wrote about scouts in The Nowhere Men. Next he wrote about the pressures of managers in Living on the Volcano. Now he writes about the players themselves, in his biggest and most ambitious book yet.Based on hundreds of hours of interviews, No Hunger in Paradise is the definitive book on what it takes to make it as a professional footballer in this country, and the pitfalls, pressures and casualties along the way.From visiting gangs in council estates in Brixton which have produced England internationals, to £200 million training complexes in Manchester, which only breed jealousy and entitlement, Mike follows the stories of the most promising young players up and down the country. He also interviews parents, coaches, agents and top managers and players to get an overall picture of the system, which is rife with corruption and abuse.No Hunger in Paradise is full of powerful human stories: of the youngsters who fall through the cracks and of those who fall prey to the entitlement and distraction of money. But in the vein of Gladwell’s Outliers, he also explores the inspirational stories of grit and of success, and attempts to find out what common traits unite the rare individuals who ‘make it’.