For Trent Alexander-Arnold the sacrifice was worth it. He gave up most of his childhood to become one of the very few who make it to football’s elite level. There were no house parties, no hanging out with friends, no walking home from school, even.
Now – with Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup winners’ medals safely stored away at home – the Liverpool and England full-back is reaching out to those that didn’t make it with his After Academy.
Over 99% of those signed to a Premier League academy at the age of nine will never have a professional career. After using social media to gauge the scale of the problem, Alexander-Arnold was inundated by stories from kids and their families, detailing everything from a loss of identity and mental health struggles to suicidal thoughts.
His After Academy is his own contribution to finding a solution. It will focus on helping teenagers to find internships and work. “I’m fortunate because I look back and think every single sacrifice I made was worth it,” he says.
“I’m one of very, very, very, very few players with the privilege to say that. But everybody else that I played with, around 15/16 other kids, probably couldn’t. How can that be fair?
“People here, for example, know that someone trains and plays for Liverpool [when you’re a kid]. It becomes who you are and it defines you. I remember walking down the street with people saying: ‘You’re [at] Liverpool academy, you’re this, that.’
“I was fine with it. When you are known as that and you were that, you’re proud of it. But when that gets stripped away from you, you don’t know who you are. Because you’ve given everything and sacrificed everything for it. It’s almost like an identity crisis.”
There were 16 boys in Alexander-Arnold’s academy age group. A typical day would see a van pick them up at 7am, returning just after 8pm for homework, dinner and sleep. He would go to bed exhausted; it would be his life for four years.
Growing up in West Derby, a Liverpool suburb, Alexander-Arnold was in Year 2 when his name was picked out of a hat for a half-term holiday training camp run by the club. Aged seven, he was training Tuesdays and Thursdays after school and playing matches on Sunday. After signing his first contract with the club at eight, he was taken out of PE.
“I wasn’t allowed to play any football outside of the academy,” he says. “The risk of injury wasn’t worth it.”
Nor was he in a position to go on holidays with his family.
“The off-season didn’t line up with school,” he says. “So when the season finished, you’re still in school. And then when school finishes, you’re back in training. I had a family holiday when I was about 11, and then not again till I was 17/18. But it didn’t bother me.”
Alexander-Arnold took his GCSEs earlier than his classmates – in Bulgaria, because it coincided with the Under-17 European Championships. He adds: “Luckily, my parents were on at me with school work and education. So I was always very disciplined and I had to get it right.
“The school board sent out the invigilators and it all was done properly.”
Outside school, the rising star would never once go to a house party, hang out or even walk home with his mates after school.
He says: “Looking back... my brothers, everyone I knew was doing that. But everyone who wanted to be a footballer had to make sacrifices. I wasn’t the only one. I just wanted to give myself the best chance. I thought, if it’s what I really want and I believe I can go and do it, then I’m not going to cut corners, I’m not going to cheat myself out of it. I’m going to try my absolute best.
“And I would do it all a million times over just to get a sniff of what I’ve achieved.”
Thriving under Jurgen Klopp at Anfield, Alexander-Arnold could end this season winning an unprecedented Quadruple – the Premier League, the Europa League, the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup.
With Klopp leaving the club at the end of the season, it could make for an emotional climax to a compelling campaign. But Alexander-Arnold is just as committed to leaving a lasting legacy in the city where he has become a superstar.
The launch of his After Academy Jobs Board will give teenagers released by clubs opportunities to find rewarding work. Backed by Liverpool FC and a string of sponsors including Red Bull, Hugo Boss, Adidas, Versus, Therabody and Under Armour, it aims to open up a life outside football.
Alexander-Arnold says: “There are so many different avenues within football. But brands are also starting to realise that the experiences and the skills that we are taught within academies are very valuable.
“If I’m 16 and I’ve been at an academy for 10 years, I’ve learned 10 years of team bonding, communication, team skills, hard work, dedication, sacrifice, discipline, routine, following instruction and working as a team.
“But I’ve also learned about the setbacks that come with it. All that compared to somebody else my age is very, very valuable to a company.”
He isn’t just lending his name to a campaign. Alexander-Arnold is giving hope to a generation that had it snatched from them. It is a legacy in the city just as important as anything left by Klopp.