I played in the Premier League - but now I'm a film producer and work with Arsenal

Marvin Sordell has enjoyed rather the rollercoaster thrust since retiring from nonrecreational football.

The erstwhile Burnley and Bolton forward hung up his boots successful July 2019, aged 28, aft making implicit 300 appearances crossed the apical 7 tiers of English football.

News of Sordell's status came arsenic a daze to many. He was a subordinate that had played successful the Premier League, for England's Under 21s and Great Britain astatine the 2012 Olympics.

Sordell, who was playing for Burton astatine the time, should person been successful his prime, but alternatively crippling intelligence wellness issues and the mode the 'beautiful game' had changed contributed to wherefore helium discontinue pro football.

After that, helium spent a abbreviated clip retired of enactment earlier deciding to acceptable up his ain movie company. He has since helped nutrient a fig of films and enactment alongside clubs specified arsenic Arsenal, Chelsea and mega companies similar McDonald's and Adidas. It's a vocation that has besides allowed him to play amateur football, arsenic good arsenic improving his intelligence wellness and enjoying beingness erstwhile again.

Speaking successful an interrogation with Mirror Football, Sordell said: "I mean, my intelligence wellness has been truly positive, it's continuously increasing and that's thing ongoing and I americium moving connected done therapy, done conscionable knowing myself amended and amended each day.

"In presumption of what I've been up to, I person acceptable up a movie accumulation company. We've done a batch of antithetic things, a batch of commercialized euphony videos, we've worked with brands similar EA, Adidas, we've done worldly with Arsenal, Chelsea McDonald's, Sky.

"We've worked with Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, David Beckham and we've done a hellhole of a batch successful a abbreviated abstraction of time. I acceptable up my selling bureau not agelong aft that. So to beryllium honest, I person been precise engaged successful a batch of antithetic ways but I've inactive been capable to beryllium specified a large portion of the shot world and astatine the centre of what goes connected successful my beingness connected a day-to-day ground arsenic well."

While playing nonrecreational football, Sordell was ever passionate and funny astir going into the movie industry. In fact, the guardant has since formed a concern business with ex-Burton teammates Harry Campbell and Will Miller, and has been palmy successful creating a sustainable organisation.

"I've ever been funny successful film," helium added. "I loved movie and I emotion stories and storytelling and that has been the lawsuit since I was precise young.

"When I moved to Burton I met 2 guys who are present my concern partners... my teammates astatine the clip Harry Campbell and Will Miller. They were some funny successful movie and erstwhile I decided to discontinue they were some considering stopping playing arsenic well. And past we conscionable decided to acceptable up the institution and person a ace astatine trying to marque films and learning arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable and spot if we tin marque a viable business.

"We're precise fortunate that we had a batch of opportunities. We person worked precise hard astatine it and tried to, you know, effort to carve retired opportunities wherever determination are. And my role, arsenic I say, I'm a shaper and the proprietor of the institution arsenic well.

"So, my days are precise varied and a batch of the clip it's trying to talk to brands, agencies, trying to find opportunities, pitching ideas to people. And of course, erstwhile we bash get a task implicit the enactment it's astir managing the merchandise fundamentally and gathering teams and making definite that everything is delivered connected clip and connected budget."

There had been a misconception that Sordell had discontinue shot for bully aft retiring 5 years ago, but helium has inactive kept playing, adjacent if it was conscionable astatine amateur level. However, backmost successful September, Sordell decided to motion for semi-professional nine Kettering Town, who play successful the Southern League Premier League Central.

"It's my archetypal semi-professional nine but I conjecture I dainty it arsenic the aforesaid arsenic erstwhile I play," Sordell continued. "I play Sunday League each present and again, I play five-a-side and seven-a-side, truthful it feels precisely the aforesaid for me. It's the information that I'm conscionable going retired and enjoying football, you know, it's not my occupation anymore and it hasn't been for a precise agelong time.

"So I conjecture my mindset is precise antithetic from conscionable playing for Kettering and I conscionable privation to bask playing football. Hopefully we tin person a bully effect by the extremity of it, but archetypal and foremost, enjoyment is first."

Sordell has since made a fistful of appearances for the seventh-tier side, helping the Poppies to the apical of the league array and the FA Cup 2nd round. The 33-year-old guardant came connected for the last 23 minutes of their daze 2-1 triumph implicit section rivals Northampton successful the archetypal circular earlier this month.

The reward for that success? Another necktie successful beforehand of the BBC cameras, this clip against League Two broadside Doncaster Rovers connected Sunday. As good arsenic reaching the 3rd circular for the archetypal clip since 2009, Kettering are besides hoping to widen their pb astatine the apical of the all-time FA Cup goalscorers chart. The Poppies pb second-place Tottenham by 11 connected 922.

Speaking up of the fixture - which has been dubbed arsenic Kettering's biggest successful implicit a decennary - Sordell said: "We request to support the tally going successful presumption of goals and get done to the adjacent round.

"In the past circular we bushed a squad higher than Doncaster, truthful I don't deliberation it should beryllium a ridiculous happening to beryllium wanting to spell and triumph a shot match. It's 11v11 and implicit 90 minutes oregon 120 minutes and penalties, it's imaginable to triumph a crippled of football. That is the ambition and we privation to support the tally going for arsenic agelong arsenic possible. It’s large for the club, fans and we privation to proceed the momentum of our commencement to the season."

Sordell's nonrecreational shot vocation spanned 10 years. He started disconnected astatine Watford and deed treble figures successful back-to-back seasons for the Championship broadside earlier moving to Bolton successful the Premier League successful January 2012. However, Sordell struggled to settee successful Lancashire and had a indebtedness astatine Charlton earlier joining Burnley.

He made 17 appearances for the Clarets successful the 2014/15 play but soon decided to driblet down the footballing ladder with Colchester and Coventry successful League One earlier Burton came calling pursuing their promotion to the Championship. Sordell spent 3 years astatine Burton, making 84 appearances earlier retiring successful 2019.

Overall, Sordell scored 69 goals successful 325 nine appearances implicit his career, arsenic good arsenic playing for England Under 21s and Great Britain's Olympic squad. Reflecting connected what helium achieved, Sordell finished: "Looking backmost connected it, I'm incredibly arrogant of what I managed to achieve. Everything is amended successful hindsight, you know, and I don't deliberation shot is antithetic to thing other successful that determination are things that I somewhat took for granted astatine the clip due to the fact that you are chasing the adjacent happening and the bigger happening erstwhile you are successful the mediate of it.

"But erstwhile I look backmost I look backmost and deliberation I was capable to bash things and play astatine levels that if I was a kid and I was looking astatine the imaginable I could play astatine I would've said that it was a imagination travel true.

"I was capable to unrecorded my imagination for 10 to 12 years and I was capable to locomotion distant connected my ain terms, truthful I couldn't beryllium happier oregon prouder. I'm incredibly grateful for each of the opportunities I was fixed and of people I had to enactment precise hard, but it was my imagination really."

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