Marvin Sordell: 'I felt dead inside. Writing is a way to get emotions out’

Marvin Sordell has played in the Premier League but also battled depression. Here he talks about football’s ‘ruthlessness’ and how writing and film-making has helped him

We sit in a park near Kings Cross, next to a church and a graveyard, and Marvin Sordell takes a deep breath. He feels ready, but this is not easy. Sordell is a former Premier League footballer, who now plays for Burton Albion in League One, and he is a writer. This dual identity shapes him. Professional football has scarred Sordell; and the secret world of writing has helped him.

A sunlit September afternoon leaves dappled little shadows around our feet as his words flow. Everything else falls away beneath this gripping, distressing and ultimately uplifting story. Sordell suffered from depression for years, even when being bought and sold for millions of pounds, playing for England Under-21s and representing GB at the London Olympics, and he endured misconceptions and racism. At his lowest he attempted suicide; but he has found a way to live again.

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