Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 1983 (age 40–41) [1] [2] | ||
Place of birth | Enfield, England | ||
Youth career | |||
Years | Team | ||
Enfield Colts | |||
Enfield | |||
1996 | Leyton Orient | ||
Stevenage Borough |
Sonny Pike (born 1983) is an English former footballer 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. [3] Despite his early promise, Pike left the game at the age of 18 without ever having played professionally. [4]
Pike was born and raised in Enfield. [2] He joined Enfield Colts at the age of 6, moving to Enfield F.C. at the age of 10. [2]
Pike received much publicity when he went on trial with Dutch club Ajax in 1995; [2] [5] [6] though the club wanted to sign him, he returned to England to sign for Leyton Orient instead. [2] 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. [2] He had a trial at Grimsby Town, [5] before quitting football at the age of 18. [2]
There were reports in the media that he had a non-league career at clubs such as Barnet and Waltham Forest under an assumed name, [6] or that he was playing in Dundee, but Pike has denied those reports. [5]
In 2016 Pike was working as a taxi driver in London. [5] In February 2020 he opened a football academy. [7] He is married with two children. [2] 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. [8]
Twelve year old Sonny Pike is a footballing genius