Mental: Bad Behaviour, Ugly Truths & The Beautiful Game

Raised by a mother who faked her own death to abandon her black baby, and a father who kept guns and Class A drugs in the house, meant that life's options for a young Jermaine were limited. Yet he saw professional football as his way out, and took his chance, emerging to be one of England's most gifted young footballers. A true prodigy, Jermaine climbed to the pinnacle of his sport to rub shoulders and compete for the highest honors with legends at Arsenal and Liverpool. The boy from one of England's toughest neighborhoods was barely into his 20s and rich beyond his wildest dreams. But, for Jermaine, some of life's most important lessons were learned late. A reckless, outrageous lifestyle would instigate a fall from the dizzying heights he had reached, ensuring he'd be remembered as much for being the "mental yob" with an ankle tag as for his heroic performance in a Champions League final. Jermaine Pennant has seen and done it all—the highs, the lows, and everything in between. His autobiography is at once a gritty coming-of-age story, an exposé into the excess-fueled life of a Premier League footballer with limitless funds, and a cautionary tale of the dangers of plying our most gifted youngsters with too much, too young. His turbulent climb through the corruption, racism, and expectation of the beautiful game holds a mirror up to the broken face of English football since the turn of the millennium. Jermaine Pennant may be a hellraiser, but his heart in firmly the right place. Told with unblinking truth, his story is a no-holds-barred riot of determination and debauchery, excellence, and excess.