I played in the Premier League – but now I’m a film producer and work with Arsenal

Marvin Sordell has enjoyed quite the rollercoaster ride since retiring from professional football.

The former Burnley and Bolton forward hung up his boots in July 2019, aged 28, after making over 300 appearances across the top seven tiers of English football.

News of Sordell’s retirement came as a shock to many. He was a player that had played in the Premier League, for England’s Under 21s and Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics.

Sordell, who was playing for Burton at the time, should have been in his prime, but instead crippling mental health issues and the way the ‘beautiful game’ had changed contributed to why he quit pro football.

After that, he spent a short time out of work before deciding to set up his own film company. He has since helped produce a number of films and work alongside clubs such as Arsenal, Chelsea and mega companies like McDonald’s and Adidas. It’s a career that has also allowed him to play amateur football, as well as improving his mental health and enjoying life once again.

Speaking in an interview with Mirror Football, Sordell said: “I mean, my mental health has been really positive, it’s continuously growing and that’s something ongoing and I am working on through therapy, through just understanding myself better and better each day.

“In terms of what I’ve been up to, I have set up a film production company. We’ve done a lot of different things, a lot of commercial music videos, we’ve worked with brands like EA, Adidas, we’ve done stuff with Arsenal, Chelsea McDonald’s, Sky.

“We’ve worked with Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, David Beckham and we’ve done a hell of a lot in a short space of time. I set up my marketing agency not long after that. So to be honest, I have been very busy in a lot of different ways but I’ve still been able to be such a big part of the football world and at the centre of what goes on in my life on a day-to-day basis as well.”

While playing professional football, Sordell was always passionate and interested about going into the film industry. In fact, the forward has since formed a business partnership with ex-Burton teammates Harry Campbell and Will Miller, and has been successful in creating a sustainable organisation.

“I’ve always been interested in film,” he added. “I loved film and I love stories and storytelling and that has been the case since I was very young.

“When I moved to Burton I met two guys who are now my business partners… my teammates at the time Harry Campbell and Will Miller. They were both interested in film and when I decided to retire they were both considering stopping playing as well. And then we just decided to set up the company and have a crack at trying to make films and learning as much as possible and see if we can make a viable business.

“We’re very fortunate that we had a lot of opportunities. We have worked very hard at it and tried to, you know, try to carve out opportunities wherever there are. And my role, as I say, I’m a producer and the owner of the company as well.

“So, my days are very varied and a lot of the time it’s trying to speak to brands, agencies, trying to find opportunities, pitching ideas to people. And of course, when we do get a project over the line it’s about managing the product essentially and building teams and making sure that everything is delivered on time and on budget.”

There had been a misconception that Sordell had quit football for good after retiring five years ago, but he has still kept playing, even if it was just at amateur level. However, back in September, Sordell decided to sign for semi-professional club Kettering Town, who play in the Southern League Premier League Central.

“It’s my first semi-professional club but I guess I treat it as the same as when I play,” Sordell continued. “I play Sunday League every now and again, I play five-a-side and seven-a-side, so it feels exactly the same for me. It’s the fact that I’m just going out and enjoying football, you know, it’s not my job anymore and it hasn’t been for a very long time.

“So I guess my mindset is very different from just playing for Kettering and I just want to enjoy playing football. Hopefully we can have a good result by the end of it, but first and foremost, enjoyment is first.”

Sordell has since made a handful of appearances for the seventh-tier side, helping the Poppies to the top of the league table and the FA Cup second round. The 33-year-old forward came on for the final 23 minutes of their shock 2-1 win over local rivals Northampton in the first round earlier this month.

The reward for that success? Another tie in front of the BBC cameras, this time against League Two side Doncaster Rovers on Sunday. As well as reaching the third round for the first time since 2009, Kettering are also hoping to extend their lead at the top of the all-time FA Cup goalscorers chart. The Poppies lead second-place Tottenham by 11 on 922.

Speaking ahead of the fixture – which has been dubbed as Kettering’s biggest in over a decade – Sordell said: “We need to keep the run going in terms of goals and get through to the next round.

“In the last round we beat a team higher than Doncaster, so I don’t think it should be a ridiculous thing to be wanting to go and win a football match. It’s 11v11 and over 90 minutes or 120 minutes and penalties, it’s possible to win a game of football. That is the ambition and we want to keep the run going for as long as possible. It’s great for the club, fans and we want to continue the momentum of our start to the season.”

Sordell’s professional football career spanned 10 years. He started off at Watford and hit double figures in back-to-back seasons for the Championship side before moving to Bolton in the Premier League in January 2012. However, Sordell struggled to settle in Lancashire and had a loan at Charlton before joining Burnley.

He made 17 appearances for the Clarets in the 2014/15 season but soon decided to drop down the footballing ladder with Colchester and Coventry in League One before Burton came calling following their promotion to the Championship. Sordell spent three years at Burton, making 84 appearances before retiring in 2019.

Overall, Sordell scored 69 goals in 325 club appearances over his career, as well as playing for England Under 21s and Great Britain’s Olympic squad. Reflecting on what he achieved, Sordell finished: “Looking back on it, I’m incredibly proud of what I managed to achieve. Everything is better in hindsight, you know, and I don’t think football is different to anything else in that there are things that I slightly took for granted at the time because you are chasing the next thing and the bigger thing when you are in the middle of it.

“But when I look back I look back and think I was able to do things and play at levels that if I was a kid and I was looking at the potential I could play at I would’ve said that it was a dream come true.

“I was able to live my dream for 10 to 12 years and I was able to walk away on my own terms, so I couldn’t be happier or prouder. I’m incredibly grateful for all of the opportunities I was given and of course I had to work very hard, but it was my dream really.”

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