Sonny Pike (born 1983) is an English former
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
who became famous at a young age for his talent, which saw him being compared to players regarded as among the greatest of all time, such as
Diego Maradona and
George Best.
Despite his early promise, Pike left the game at the age of 18 without ever having played professionally.
Early life
Pike was born and raised in
Enfield.
He joined Enfield Colts at the age of 6, moving to
Enfield F.C.
Enfield Football Club is an English football club that is currently a member of the . The club plays its home matches at Woodside Park in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, which it shares with owners Bishop's Stortford F.C. Traditionally bas ...
at the age of 10.
Career
Pike received much publicity when he went on trial with Dutch club
Ajax in 1995;
though the club wanted to sign him, he returned to England to sign for
Leyton Orient instead.
A proposed move to
Chelsea fell through, and he later went on trial with both
Queens Park Rangers and
Crystal Palace before signing with
Stevenage Borough.
He had a trial at
Grimsby Town,
before quitting football at the age of 18.
There were reports in the media that he had a non-league career at clubs such as
Barnet
Barnet may refer to:
People
*Barnet (surname)
* Barnet (given name)
Places United Kingdom
*Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below.
*East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...
and
Waltham Forest
The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is a London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: Enfield to the north-west, Haringey to the west, Hackney to t ...
under an assumed name,
or that he was playing in Dundee, but Pike has denied those reports.
Later career
In 2016 Pike was working as a taxi driver in London.
In February 2020 he opened a football academy. He is married with two children.
He continues to be cited by the football media as the archetype of a heavily promoted child prodigy who ultimately did not achieve success in the sport.
References
1983 births
Living people
English men's footballers
Enfield F.C. players
Leyton Orient F.C. players
Stevenage F.C. players
Men's association football players not categorized by position
Footballers from the London Borough of Enfield
British taxi drivers
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