Living to Play is the first book to examine the slow and sometimes painful development of the professional footballer through the last one hundred years, from soccer 'slave' to 'socceratti', Bloomer to Beckham. Written by sports historian John Harding in close collaboration with Gordon Taylor, Chief Executive of the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), the book looks at how players were recruited, how they were trained, and how their lives were regulated. Consideration is also given to the physical and psychological stresses experienced by men performing at the highest level before an exacting, adoring public, their lives beyond the playing field, the privileges and penalties of the sporting elite and how professional players handle their ever-increasing rewards. The book draws on first-hand experience, memoirs and interviews, and looks at the stresses and strains of performing before an exacting and demanding public - and how such adulation can sometimes turn sour.Illustrated throughout and complete with the testimonies of countless players from the dawn of the professional game to the present day, Living to Play provides a glimpse of the off-field lives of the nation's favourite athletes. Read Less