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Journeyman: One Man's Odyssey Through the Lower Leagues of English Football
BEN SMITH: PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALLER. Recognise the name? Of course you don't. That's because most of Smith's years in the game were spent outside the vaunted, big-money environs of the Premier League - and this sporting memoir is all the more entertaining as a result. 1995: an adolescent Ben arrives at the training ground of one of England's biggest clubs to begin his journey and realise his dream of playing top-flight professional football. Aged just sixteen, he shares pre-season sessions at Arsenal with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp and Ian Wright. Surely this is the start of a stellar career? Instead, the next seventeen years saw the bright young star descend the ranks from Highbury to obscurity. With seasons playing for the likes of Reading, Yeovil, Southend, Hereford, Shrewsbury and Weymouth - and a career including three promotions, one relegation and some very memorable FA Cup games - Ben's story is one of a quintessential journeyman footballer. Candidly describing the negotiations, insecurities, injuries, relocations, personal implications and wet Saturday afternoons playing in front of 500 people, Journeyman offers a unique insight into the unvarnished life of a lower-league player - so far removed from the stories of pampered Premiership stars - as well as documenting the many teammates, opponents, managers and coaches who left an indelible mark on Ben's eclectic career. Refreshingly unsentimental and often hilarious, Smith's story is essential reading for all true fans of the not-always-so-beautiful game.
431 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 28, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
August 22, 2016
enjoyable bio of a journeyman footballer in the lower tiers of english football who I actually had watched playing football
July 5, 2015
Interesting and somewhat unique premise - you've not heard of Ben Smith, you've probably never even heard of the football teams he played for but his autobiography is a tell all tale about what it's like for the majority of professional footballers in England.
There's no pampered superstars, there's no celebrities who have sex with grannies, no drug dealing parents, no sleeping with your best mates wife, no parking in disabled bays, no kit endorsement deals (and occasionally no kit!) and no mega money salaries.
But there are coaches who live to be abusive dictators, agents who live to deceive their clients, chairmen with no business sense, bonuses that don't get paid, endless runs around fields, countless little injuries, twenty four hour round trips to play an away match in front of 700 people and zero job security.
Ben Smith comes across as a normal guy, largely grateful that he got to have a seventeen year career as a professional footballer and open with his regret over his youthful behaviour. This account of those seventeen years is a mix of interesting behind the scenes insight - contracts, meetings, training, transfers, personality clashes etc. - and like listening to my brother tell me interminable tales of the semi-professional and amateur matches he used to play in - who did what, what he did back, what this guy said and who got sent off etc.
The first half of the book reads almost like a guide on "How Not to be a Young Professional Footballer" as Smith details his youthful arrogance, his love of fast food and regular binge drinking sessions, as he rapidly fell down the football pyramid. The second half contains a lot more of the "I was crap, then I was good but the boss thought I was crap, so I made sure I was even better" sort of anecdotes.
In the same way that Smith found the trainers who had previously been successful professional footballers to be inspiring this is the kind of book young professionals in these new Elite Development programs should read, it just might save them from themselves and even help focus them on becoming that guy who racially abuses people and gets away with it because they're famous sports stars.
There's no pampered superstars, there's no celebrities who have sex with grannies, no drug dealing parents, no sleeping with your best mates wife, no parking in disabled bays, no kit endorsement deals (and occasionally no kit!) and no mega money salaries.
But there are coaches who live to be abusive dictators, agents who live to deceive their clients, chairmen with no business sense, bonuses that don't get paid, endless runs around fields, countless little injuries, twenty four hour round trips to play an away match in front of 700 people and zero job security.
Ben Smith comes across as a normal guy, largely grateful that he got to have a seventeen year career as a professional footballer and open with his regret over his youthful behaviour. This account of those seventeen years is a mix of interesting behind the scenes insight - contracts, meetings, training, transfers, personality clashes etc. - and like listening to my brother tell me interminable tales of the semi-professional and amateur matches he used to play in - who did what, what he did back, what this guy said and who got sent off etc.
The first half of the book reads almost like a guide on "How Not to be a Young Professional Footballer" as Smith details his youthful arrogance, his love of fast food and regular binge drinking sessions, as he rapidly fell down the football pyramid. The second half contains a lot more of the "I was crap, then I was good but the boss thought I was crap, so I made sure I was even better" sort of anecdotes.
In the same way that Smith found the trainers who had previously been successful professional footballers to be inspiring this is the kind of book young professionals in these new Elite Development programs should read, it just might save them from themselves and even help focus them on becoming that guy who racially abuses people and gets away with it because they're famous sports stars.
April 3, 2016
The tagline says it all "Remember the professional footballer Ben Smith? Of course you don't. This is his story".
Difficult not to like really - Smith was one of those blokes who rarely played more than a year (maybe two) at any club, and spent most of his career around the Conference and Division 4 (or whatever it is these days). And you'd probably get the map out to find half his clubs. So can you care about what this bloke does if you've never heard of him, or even his team? A qualified yes - I read this in a few goes over a month or so.
An attacking midfielder who started on Arsenal's books, Smith quickly dropped down the leagues, and as they say 'found his level'. He had pace issues. And in his younger days, application problems, which he's very honest about - getting drunk with his mates and barely training lays ground that when he does pick up injuries (and he was fairly injury prone) things get worse. He's quite open that he never trained hard until it was way too late - and while it kept him in a job in his later years, it raised more questions of what could have been in the younger ones.
He seems to have been a fairly talented pro and he's a very open and frank writer - he discloses every contract negotiation he has, including his wages throughout - it's slightly terrifying how much a conference team were paying at some points (over £1000 per week!). While he's open about his views, disappointments - in himself, his clubs etc - and interspersed with his struggles to adapt to teaching after football, I'm never quite sure he's truly willing to give himself the slap he obviously needed at times (or some praise at others - he does seem to have been genuinely unlucky with injuries). But fair play to him - he's clearly written it himself (in footballer prose, and getting that above journeyman is even rarer in the genre - he doesn't, but he's not looking to either. There's the usual training ground banter stuff, but it's his views on when to stay or change clubs (sometimes down to £50 a week, or a new car being offered) and the many things that count as much for the rest of us in thinking about changing jobs compared to the top end of the game.
Recommended for a very different perspective on life in football.
Difficult not to like really - Smith was one of those blokes who rarely played more than a year (maybe two) at any club, and spent most of his career around the Conference and Division 4 (or whatever it is these days). And you'd probably get the map out to find half his clubs. So can you care about what this bloke does if you've never heard of him, or even his team? A qualified yes - I read this in a few goes over a month or so.
An attacking midfielder who started on Arsenal's books, Smith quickly dropped down the leagues, and as they say 'found his level'. He had pace issues. And in his younger days, application problems, which he's very honest about - getting drunk with his mates and barely training lays ground that when he does pick up injuries (and he was fairly injury prone) things get worse. He's quite open that he never trained hard until it was way too late - and while it kept him in a job in his later years, it raised more questions of what could have been in the younger ones.
He seems to have been a fairly talented pro and he's a very open and frank writer - he discloses every contract negotiation he has, including his wages throughout - it's slightly terrifying how much a conference team were paying at some points (over £1000 per week!). While he's open about his views, disappointments - in himself, his clubs etc - and interspersed with his struggles to adapt to teaching after football, I'm never quite sure he's truly willing to give himself the slap he obviously needed at times (or some praise at others - he does seem to have been genuinely unlucky with injuries). But fair play to him - he's clearly written it himself (in footballer prose, and getting that above journeyman is even rarer in the genre - he doesn't, but he's not looking to either. There's the usual training ground banter stuff, but it's his views on when to stay or change clubs (sometimes down to £50 a week, or a new car being offered) and the many things that count as much for the rest of us in thinking about changing jobs compared to the top end of the game.
Recommended for a very different perspective on life in football.
December 29, 2017
I loved this book and devoured it in about 3 days!
I'm a Weymouth FC fan with a huge interest in the world of English non-league football and Ben played for 'The Terras' so I'm definitely the target audience for this kind of book.
It's a fascinating behind the scenes insight into how non-league and lower league clubs operate and what life is like for players who are employed by them, how much they earn, etc. Ben takes the reader all the way through his career, starting with Arsenal as a school boy and finishing at Crawley twenty or so years later, via clubs such as Hereford, Yeovil, Shrewsbury, and of course, Weymouth.
The writing is of a very engaging and original style. For example, writing about his early years, Ben Smith basically says: 'I find the childhood years in most autobiographies relatively boring, so I'm going to skip that bit', so he does, and it works. I agree with him!
He's also really funny, with great self-effacing humour. The funniest bits are when he describes the antics and foul mouthed outbursts of his Scottish manager at Crawley, Steve Evans. In one bit of the book, he had me laughing out loud as I turned from one page to the next.
Fantastic read and would definitely recommend this to any football lover, regardless of whether you support Manchester United or Weymouth FC. It's very engaging and a great alternative perspective on the beautiful game.
I'm a Weymouth FC fan with a huge interest in the world of English non-league football and Ben played for 'The Terras' so I'm definitely the target audience for this kind of book.
It's a fascinating behind the scenes insight into how non-league and lower league clubs operate and what life is like for players who are employed by them, how much they earn, etc. Ben takes the reader all the way through his career, starting with Arsenal as a school boy and finishing at Crawley twenty or so years later, via clubs such as Hereford, Yeovil, Shrewsbury, and of course, Weymouth.
The writing is of a very engaging and original style. For example, writing about his early years, Ben Smith basically says: 'I find the childhood years in most autobiographies relatively boring, so I'm going to skip that bit', so he does, and it works. I agree with him!
He's also really funny, with great self-effacing humour. The funniest bits are when he describes the antics and foul mouthed outbursts of his Scottish manager at Crawley, Steve Evans. In one bit of the book, he had me laughing out loud as I turned from one page to the next.
Fantastic read and would definitely recommend this to any football lover, regardless of whether you support Manchester United or Weymouth FC. It's very engaging and a great alternative perspective on the beautiful game.
August 13, 2022
Very interesting story. I've followed football all my life and taken an interest in 'my club', however I've never really considered it from a players viewpoint
I was taken with how quickly a career goes from being promising newcomer, through seasoned Pro to career end in the blink of an eyee and the need to find a new career in your 30's
I can also appreciate that the player will give 100% for each team they are signed to but there is little loyalty from the club beyond the length of a players contract and then it's down to the player to find a new club and negotiate the best deal for the following season. It seems to be a case of bluff and counter bluff when negotiating the new deal in most part avoiding paying agent fees
Ben tells his story well interlasing his current career position between seasons
My regret is not having seen Ben play as I have an image in my mind from his own description
I've read several auto biographies but generally of well known people where you already know their story so it was refreshing to know nothing about Ben and see where his story takes you.
Would recommend
I was taken with how quickly a career goes from being promising newcomer, through seasoned Pro to career end in the blink of an eyee and the need to find a new career in your 30's
I can also appreciate that the player will give 100% for each team they are signed to but there is little loyalty from the club beyond the length of a players contract and then it's down to the player to find a new club and negotiate the best deal for the following season. It seems to be a case of bluff and counter bluff when negotiating the new deal in most part avoiding paying agent fees
Ben tells his story well interlasing his current career position between seasons
My regret is not having seen Ben play as I have an image in my mind from his own description
I've read several auto biographies but generally of well known people where you already know their story so it was refreshing to know nothing about Ben and see where his story takes you.
Would recommend
October 11, 2017
Whilst almost a game by game semi-diarised approach which revealed little about the man and his life outside of football, this view from the perspective of a journeyman footballer who somehow made a living for 17 years was enjoyable, fresh and illuminating. Spare a thought for those lower down the footballing food chain who are clearly not pampered athletes but regularly disrespected and abused almost as a matter of course by a variety of characters. Whilst there is a good sense of camaraderie in the dressing room, a sample of the type of base practical jokes played (which were apparently some of the more repeatable) made me glad I had zero talent!
His honesty about his own abilities, a sense of what could have been had every path taken been the best available (without 20/20 hindsight) and his clear likeability as a person, made this a warm and intriguing read. I found myself wishing him well for the future.
His honesty about his own abilities, a sense of what could have been had every path taken been the best available (without 20/20 hindsight) and his clear likeability as a person, made this a warm and intriguing read. I found myself wishing him well for the future.
May 21, 2019
I have read a fair few football biographies over the decades, the vast majority so-so at best, however this is easily one of the best. An honest look back at the career of a self confessed journeyman. Ben Smith is upfront about where he made the wrong decisions in his career. Realises what his strengths and weaknesses were. Definitely an entertaining read, particularly his time working under Steve Evans who, as I have always suspected, is a wee radge. To finish off this review, can I just point out a wee error concerning whinger, sorry, winger Willie Gibson. Crawley signed him from Dunfermline Athletic and not St Johnstone, whom he played for on loan from Crawley.
Ray Smillie
Ray Smillie
June 9, 2019
An interesting football memoir from 'journeyman' Ben Smith detailing his professional football career stretching to 475 first team appearances (and 82 goals) at various lower league clubs including Yeovil Town, Southend United, Hereford United and Crawley Town. It is a refreshingly 'warts-and-all' memoir and as such would be excellent reading for budding young footballers hoping to embark on a professional career: Ben is honest about times when he made a wrong decision, often admitting that he made a mistake, and also is frank about his dealings with various managers he played under and again highlighting times when he could have behaved differently to his own benefit. Good read - 8/10.
May 9, 2020
A solid read for any football fan, particularly those interested in the leagues outside the Premier League. It gave insights into what happens outside the glitz and glam, wondering what the next move is year on year. I found the explaining of results a bit tedious, I enjoyed the book but didn’t find myself itching to pick it up everyday. But overall, a good read for a football fan or anyone interested.
June 26, 2021
I enjoy books like this. Books that give you an insight into another life which is relatively relatable to your own. Great to read about many of the players and managers that I have heard about over the years, and also to improve my understanding of life as a professional sportsperson in the lower echelons of the game.
Nothing spectacular but some real honest reflections, and it just goes to show how important luck is as a factor in the career of a sportsperson / footballer.
Nothing spectacular but some real honest reflections, and it just goes to show how important luck is as a factor in the career of a sportsperson / footballer.
February 9, 2024
Enjoyable and something a bit different - a departure from the usual run-of-the-mill football autobiographies that seem to be pretty phoned in.
Ironically, contract negotiations, relocation, and fighting for a place in a team have much higher stakes when millions of pounds aren’t on the line. This is a bloke with a mortgage earning a living - he’s down to earth and relatable.
Aside from using too many exclamation marks (especially early on), very good
Ironically, contract negotiations, relocation, and fighting for a place in a team have much higher stakes when millions of pounds aren’t on the line. This is a bloke with a mortgage earning a living - he’s down to earth and relatable.
Aside from using too many exclamation marks (especially early on), very good
February 22, 2018
It took me a while to get into the book, but once I did, I loved it. It gives a real insight to the life of the ordinary quite-mediocre footballer - how it is to play in smaller grounds, for smaller teams, the dynamics of an anonymous football team, the relationship with managers and fellow team-mates, the highs and the lows, the importance of a good cup run to a footballer's life - all of it.
December 22, 2019
Forget the banal autobiographies of big name footballers, which are churned out to maximise profit and minimise controversy. This is a truely honest account of what it's like to be a footballer and make for fascinating reading. Full review here:
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August 20, 2020
Easy read, good stories
The author comes over as a nice bloke. All his failings are his own fault. Puts a very human face on professional football at the lowest levels. The book is quite well written so he is clearly no fool. Ultimately though if you are a football fan you are not going to learn much
The author comes over as a nice bloke. All his failings are his own fault. Puts a very human face on professional football at the lowest levels. The book is quite well written so he is clearly no fool. Ultimately though if you are a football fan you are not going to learn much
February 28, 2024
Initially the author is very full of him self and his own abilities, but then as you move through the leagues, you see that players are subject to the whims and wants of their managers. Lots of nicknames and the occasional naughty word or two. A decent read and insight, into what turned out to be a real footballing journey around the lower leagues.
September 10, 2018
Great blow by blow account of a football near legand
Well I didn't know him before but I do now ? It was a really terrific book well written and hard to put down. In my eyes a true legend.
Well I didn't know him before but I do now ? It was a really terrific book well written and hard to put down. In my eyes a true legend.
December 20, 2018
Fascinating
This is a really excellent book. I enjoyed Left Foot Forward by Gary Nelson a few years ago and this is in the same vein but at a lower level. It is fascinating to read about what really goes on.
This is a really excellent book. I enjoyed Left Foot Forward by Gary Nelson a few years ago and this is in the same vein but at a lower level. It is fascinating to read about what really goes on.
April 8, 2024
Loved this story ,as an amateur journeyman I can empathise completely with Ben Smith ,really enjoyed reading this book ,laughed a lot reading about Steve Evan’s a man who needs his own book ,great read
September 11, 2017
A decent read with a few interesting stories especially in his later years in the game.
July 24, 2018
The football industry.
Honest and interesting for us has beens. A cut throat non pc industry. I think he was a better player than he lets on. Glad i played for fun.
Honest and interesting for us has beens. A cut throat non pc industry. I think he was a better player than he lets on. Glad i played for fun.
August 26, 2020
A good and different perspective on the football book, but falls into the trap of giving game-by-game summaries of a career. Starts to drag about 2/3s of the way through because of it.
January 5, 2024
A great autobiography of a footballer who went through the bowels of English Football Leagues. Must read for any european football lover.
May 5, 2020
Famously played against Manchester United at Old Trafford, this is a good story of a man who is good at football and finds teaching PE more fulfilling.
October 2, 2016
A very enjoyable account of the authors football career. I shared in the frustration as he didn't apply himself during the early part of his career and he gradually began to drop down the leagues. Once he found his level it was fascinating to read of the exploits of the various teams, players, and managers he was involved with.
The story comes across as very honest and the author seems a very genuine guy. It was also good to read about what he has been doing since his professional career ended. Such was the enjoyment of the read, it makes me want him to succeed in pursuing his dream now that his footballing career has ended.
The story comes across as very honest and the author seems a very genuine guy. It was also good to read about what he has been doing since his professional career ended. Such was the enjoyment of the read, it makes me want him to succeed in pursuing his dream now that his footballing career has ended.
October 11, 2015
I'm a sucker for a football autobiography or biography. I have a big pile of books to read at the moment but this is the one I went to first. When I say I like football books, I don't mean the generic sort, the ones that include chapters such as 'Best XI I ever played against', and have huge print to make the book seem weightier than it really is.
I prefer the more thoughtful football books. And this is one. As the title suggests, it's a tale of one man who changed clubs regularly but whose first team career never rose above the level of League One. It's not a unique book: 'Left Foot Forward: A Year in the Life of a Journeyman Footballer' by Garry Nelson covered similar ground almost twenty years ago, and parts of Clark Carlisle's autobiography describe life at the bottom end of the football league.
Ben Smith's career began as an apprentice at Arsenal, but his unprofessional lifestyle - especially binge drinking - led to him dropping down the leagues and playing for various teams between the third and sixth tiers of the English football pyramid. In his twenties he realised he'd thrown away a chance of succeeding at the top, but started spending his summers in the gym and not the pub and made a decent if unspectacular career for himself.
He writes with great honesty about his shortcomings - a lack of pace and an inability to track back - and shines a light on the instability of a lifestyle far removed from the luxury trappings of the Premier League. The chapters on his life at Crawley with the unpredictable Steve Evans as manager are especially interesting, although near the end of the book Smith has a tendency to whinge about repeatedly getting dropped, which grates a little on the reader. Overall, though, it's a different football book, very readable and enjoyable, and I hope this isn't the one and only step in Ben Smith's literary career.
I prefer the more thoughtful football books. And this is one. As the title suggests, it's a tale of one man who changed clubs regularly but whose first team career never rose above the level of League One. It's not a unique book: 'Left Foot Forward: A Year in the Life of a Journeyman Footballer' by Garry Nelson covered similar ground almost twenty years ago, and parts of Clark Carlisle's autobiography describe life at the bottom end of the football league.
Ben Smith's career began as an apprentice at Arsenal, but his unprofessional lifestyle - especially binge drinking - led to him dropping down the leagues and playing for various teams between the third and sixth tiers of the English football pyramid. In his twenties he realised he'd thrown away a chance of succeeding at the top, but started spending his summers in the gym and not the pub and made a decent if unspectacular career for himself.
He writes with great honesty about his shortcomings - a lack of pace and an inability to track back - and shines a light on the instability of a lifestyle far removed from the luxury trappings of the Premier League. The chapters on his life at Crawley with the unpredictable Steve Evans as manager are especially interesting, although near the end of the book Smith has a tendency to whinge about repeatedly getting dropped, which grates a little on the reader. Overall, though, it's a different football book, very readable and enjoyable, and I hope this isn't the one and only step in Ben Smith's literary career.
August 29, 2016
Ended up enjoying this one very much - I don't suppose Ben Smith sees himself as the best writer ever invented, which of course he isn't, but the streak of honesty throughout his tale is refreshing. Smith has an endearing willingness to make it clear when he's played poorly, or when he's made a wrong decision, meaning the ego has been firmly put to one side. It helps that his is a fascinating tale, a revealing insight into life in football's lower leagues, little told in the national media and opening up a world filled with money shortages, nomadic careers, broken dreams and capricious managers (Steve Evans comes in for a fair bit of stick).
The only disappointment for me was that Smith didn't go into a great deal of detail about what it was like to be signed for Arsenal only to find himself falling down the tables - how disappointing was that? Did he just roll up his sleeves and get on with it, or did he forever lament starting off at one of England's biggest clubs before discovering he wasn't cut out for that level?
The only disappointment for me was that Smith didn't go into a great deal of detail about what it was like to be signed for Arsenal only to find himself falling down the tables - how disappointing was that? Did he just roll up his sleeves and get on with it, or did he forever lament starting off at one of England's biggest clubs before discovering he wasn't cut out for that level?
June 19, 2016
This book tells the story of Ben Smith's professional career in the lower leagues of English football. Ben who you might ask? Exactly! Ben Smith isn't a famous footballer.
Few people would recognize him in the street or remember seeing him play.
By his own admission, Smith wasn't the most gifted player around, and for a number of years following the start of his pro career, he preferred drinking and partying to training daily. Despite all this, Smith was able to make a living for 17 years by doing what most of us would do for free.
He is very honest in his memoir and isn't afraid of revealing a lot of interesting details, from how much he was earning to which coach he hated the most and why.
A refreshing look behind the curtains of the beautiful game, inspired by someone who is certainly closer to you and I than to the big earners, prima-donnas of the Premier League.
Few people would recognize him in the street or remember seeing him play.
By his own admission, Smith wasn't the most gifted player around, and for a number of years following the start of his pro career, he preferred drinking and partying to training daily. Despite all this, Smith was able to make a living for 17 years by doing what most of us would do for free.
He is very honest in his memoir and isn't afraid of revealing a lot of interesting details, from how much he was earning to which coach he hated the most and why.
A refreshing look behind the curtains of the beautiful game, inspired by someone who is certainly closer to you and I than to the big earners, prima-donnas of the Premier League.
May 19, 2016
The reality of the footballing life
As a Sunday League utility player I often thought I could have made the grade at the lower end of the football pyramid.
This excellent book showcases the reality for most footballers, not million pound contracts, product endorsements, model girlfriends and flash cars. The reality is poot salaries, poor facilities, dictatorships, lies, deceit and poor management interspersed with nice, intelligent, friendly and genuine football loving people.
Intelligently written, honest, forthright and very insightful, this book should be compulsory for all wannabe Premier League superstars , to show them what could/will happen.
A brilliant read.
As a Sunday League utility player I often thought I could have made the grade at the lower end of the football pyramid.
This excellent book showcases the reality for most footballers, not million pound contracts, product endorsements, model girlfriends and flash cars. The reality is poot salaries, poor facilities, dictatorships, lies, deceit and poor management interspersed with nice, intelligent, friendly and genuine football loving people.
Intelligently written, honest, forthright and very insightful, this book should be compulsory for all wannabe Premier League superstars , to show them what could/will happen.
A brilliant read.
March 23, 2016
It is not a bad read as ex-footballer's memoirs go. It does give a good insight into the daily life of a footballer in the lower leagues/non-league. Be nice to have a bit more on the characters he met in the game and the description of seasons results does get a little tedious after a couple of seasons. I'd give this 3 1/2 overall.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews