BOOK REVIEWS
Autobiography
Out Of The Darkness
Matt Piper & Joe Brewin
We Rate:
BOOK SYNOPSIS
Out of the Darkness is the gritty and hard-hitting autobiography of former Leicester and Sunderland winger Matt Piper, the ex-England U21 hopeful whose dreams were shattered when injury forced him to retire at age 24, causing his life to spiral out of control.
After making history as the last ever goal scorer at Filbert Street in 2002, Matt was forced into a £3.5m move to Wearside amid the Foxes financial misery. But that high was short-lived and soon his dreams - and life - crumbled. After 16 operations, failed comebacks and anxiety attacks, he retired with money in his pocket but no clue where to turn next. Soon Matt's daily existence became dependent on alcohol, cannabis and valium; waking up in hospital with no idea why, with doctors suggesting he be sectioned.
Out of the Darkness reveals another face of football - what happens next when dreams are smashed - and how to overcome life's worst demons. Matt's frank and often difficult revelations are complemented by hilarious tales of dysfunction amid life at two of English football's biggest clubs.
OUR REVIEW
I'm quite sad that I never really got to see Matt Piper play all that much. As a Leicester City fan, he sadly fell into a timeline when I wasn't a regular at the club and was followed from the sofa of my house, robbing me of the chance to see what many described as one of the best ever players to come from the Foxes Academy.
Today in Leicester City land , we are thankfully able to hear his thoughts as a pundit on local radio but for many in between that time, we were likely not to have known about the struggles he faced away from the game when injury cruelly robbed him of his career at such a young age.
We'll never know how good Piper could have been, particularly for the Foxes had we not gone through our self-destructive phase where we were forced to sell our best players. Could he have got International honours, we'll never know but there was certainly many tipping him to do so.
This book charts his rise in the game, from the Foxes youth system and into the 1st Team squad, scoring the final ever league goal at Filbert Street. His move to Sunderland and the subsequent injuries are all laid bare in the book and are a deep look into the reality of the game when it isn't all a success.
From there, its all about the fall-out, physically, emotionally and mentally and when life hits rock bottom with nowhere to go, the thoughts to end it all. Gracefully, he is here to tell his story and the success that can be achieved when all hope is lost and how he overcame it all.
An inspirational read for us all, we all hear of injuries ending careers, many though are not at the young age of 24, a different outlook to the mental side, from a younger perspective. For Foxes fans, a really interesting read. For the wider football fan, a deep insight into a lost career!
