Paradise and Beyond

Chris Sutton enjoyed a hugely successful career at some of Britain’s biggest clubs. One of the greatest strikers of modern times, he starred beside and played for some of the biggest names in world football – Larsson, Shearer, Dalglish, Vialli. Now, in Paradise and Beyond, the Celtic, Blackburn and Norwich legend opens his heart on his incredible life story and lifts the lid on the battles he fought on and off the pitch in a controversial and successful fifteen-year career. From a YTS trainee at Norwich to the dugout at Lincoln, Chris has experienced the game from minnow to millionaire. Now for the first time he reveals his early success at Norwich and how he nearly lost out on his record-breaking £5million move to Blackburn after spending a night behind bars. And he tells the truth about his relationship with England superstar Shearer at Ewood Park. Chris enjoyed the most successful spell of his career at Parkhead and he relives the glory and success under Martin O’Neill. But he tells exactly why he holds Gordon Strachan responsible for him having to leave Celtic in 2006. Chris lifts the lid on why his dream move to Chelsea turned sour and his bust-up with boss Vialli on the morning of an FA Cup Final. And for the first time Chris unveils the truth behind why he chose to snub Glenn Hoddle’s England and his regrets at turning down the chance of playing for his country. This candid autobiography also has exclusive no-holds-barred interviews from the managers he played under, from O'Neill to Dalglish to Vialli. Paranoid. Sublime. Manic. Influential. Opinionated. Intelligent. All adjectives used by them to sum up Sutton. And off the pitch, he opens up on the traumatic experience of watching his baby son James fighting for his life and reveals the trauma of his own cancer scare. Controversy followed him throughout his career and continues to do so throughout this book.