Something in the Water: The Story of England's Football Talent Hotbeds - Hardcover

by Callum Murray (Author)

Something in the Water explores the inner workings of England's football-talent hotbeds, investigating how these areas so often create elite footballers. For decades working-class northern towns have churned out players like a factory conveyor belt - places like Huyton, a town of just over 33,000 that has produced the likes of Steven Gerrard, Peter Reid, David Nugent, Joey Barton and Tony Hibbert. However, the emergence of south London as the new-school hotbed is exciting. Players produced here are like nothing seen before in England. The concrete Catalonia is home to a new generation of stars such as Jadon Sancho, Wilf Zaha, Joe Gomez, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Joe Aribo and others. Bringing together the thoughts and ideas of those involved at every level of the game - from the south London estate cages to the heights of the Premier League and Europe's elite - the book unearths the secrets of two distinct types of hotbed that represent the past, present and possible future of English football.

Author Biography

Callum Murray has worked in youth football for the last five years with some of the most talented and respected players of their age in the country. With a background in sport psychology and a deep interest in football and talent development, he has researched football- talent hotbeds in England exhaustively, speaking to experts and some of the most influential people in this field. Something in the Water is his first book.