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No Hunger In Paradise: The Players. The Journey. The Dream

No Hunger In Paradise: The Players. The Journey. The Dream

by Michael Calvin (Author)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2017

    $3.30
Synopsis

*Award-winning author of The Nowhere Men and Living on the Volcano is back to complete his football trilogy with a new book that tells the inside story of becoming a professional footballer.* 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.

$3.30

Save:$18.34 (85%)

Quantity

3 in stock

More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 464
 Publisher: Century
Published: 20 Apr 2017
ISBN 10: 1780896301
ISBN 13: 9781780896304

Media Reviews
Another landmark work from Mike Calvin, who has taken us beyond the surface of football to show its true workings. Ground-breaking reportage with a heart and a conscience. A service to the game. -- Paul Hayward * Telegraph *
Extraordinary writing, a vital subject, a brilliant read -- Jonathan Northcroft * Sunday Times *
If you're in any way interested in what lies beneath the water of the Premier League Iceberg, read Mike Calvin's latest book No Hunger in Paradise -- Owen Gibson * Guardian *
A fascinating insight which gets to the heart of the matter - and problems - chasing every kid's dream. A compelling read for anyone who likes football and the stories surrounding the stars of tomorrow. I couldn't put it down. -- John Cross * Daily Mirror *
Another exceptional piece of work -- Jason Burt * Telegraph *
Highly recommended reading. An excellent and important book . . . No Hunger in Paradise explores the world of youth football and, if the stories within do one thing, they press the claim for serious discussion about how the English game treats the thousands of children who come into contact with the sharper end of youth football - and their families who often get reeled in to a cut-throat environment without really understanding what is going on -- Amy Lawrence
Eye-opening and compelling * Iain Macintosh *
Terrifying -- Richard Williams * Guardian *
No Hunger in Paradise is somehow both heart-breaking and uplifting. Just brilliant! * Waterstones Sport *
No Hunger in Paradise is humbling, educational, worrying and a great read. Can't recommend it highly enough. One of the best sports books I've ever read. -- Barry Glendenning * Guardian *
Started reading this and it's brilliant. Seriously recommended. Yet another important football book from Michael Calvin. In-depth well-researched accounts of the journey from kids football to the professional game..or rejection -- Adrian Durham * TalkSPORT *
If you've any interest in the future of football in this country and the young players who will provide it, No Hunger in Paradiseis a must-read. * Liverpool Echo *
Bleak but brilliant. Contains stories that need to be heard. * i-Paper *
A brilliant & very important book. Vital, highly recommended. Tempted to say it's Michael Calvin's best yet, which is some praise. -- Oliver Kay * The Times *
The best sports book I'm likely to read this year. Highly recommend you buy it. -- Simon Hughes * Independent *
A brilliant insight into the journey young kids now make from kicking a ball around in their back garden, through the glossy facilities of academy football. -- David Preece * Sunderland Echo *
His research is, as ever, impeccable... No Hunger in Paradise is a fascinating and fitting finale to a trio of books any football lover should own. * Sunday Sport *
Heartbreaking . . . an excellent piece of reportage * i-Paper *
The award-winning writer's new forensic, and sometimes alarming, case study into why some young prospects make the cut - and others fall away - is fascinating... The FA would do well to read this if they want success * FourFourTwo *
Brilliantly sourced and written... As a portrait of the state of the modern game, No Hunger In Paradise is vital reading. With Calvin's previous studies, it serves as a record of what football is like today and should place him alongside Arthur Hopcraft, John Moynihan and Hunter Davies in providing the sport with its defining literature * When Saturday Comes *
Author Bio
Michael Calvin, one of the UK's most accomplished sportswriters, has worked in more than eighty countries, covering every major sporting event, including seven summer Olympic Games and six World Cup finals. He was named Sports Writer of the Year for his despatches as a crew member in a round-the-world yacht race and has twice been named Sports Reporter of the Year. He is a bestselling author, whose book The Nowhere Men won the Times Sports Book of the Year prize in 2014. He became the first author to receive the award in successive years, when Proud, his collaboration with former Wales and British Lions rugby captain Gareth Thomas, was named Sports Book of the Year in 2015. In the same year the second book of his football trilogy, Living On The Volcano, was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year prize. No Nonsense, his collaboration with Joey Barton, was nominated for the award in 2016.