Recovering

When a career ending injury saw Richie Sadlier retire from football, his life spiraled out of control. Fuelled by a dependency on alcohol, he spent years running from dark memories and feelings that had haunted him since his childhood. Written in conjunction with Dion Fanning, this is an inspiring memoir about addiction and recovery.

Winner of the An Post Irish Sports Book of the Year Award

Longlisted for The William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award

‘Not only the sports book of the year, the book of the year.’ Paul Howard

‘Unputdownable,’ The Last Word, Today FM

‘You’ll go a long way to find a better autobiography. It’s raw, unfiltered honesty from start to finish, a captivating account of one man’s story that will resonate with so many more.’ The Irish Independent

‘The bravest book I''ve read in a long time. A really quality read written by a man who happened to be a footballer rather than a book necessarily about football.’ Damien O’Meara, RTÉ 

‘Storytelling of the highest calibre. Richie Sadlier’s autobiography is a judiciously layered and thoughtful examination of how to live a life and develop as a person despite everything. It’s also relentlessly entertaining. A rare and precious example of a sports book that has both story and stories in abundance.’ Malachy Clerkin, The Irish Times

‘The kind of book to stop you in your tracks.’ The Irish Farmers Journal

When a career-ending injury saw former Ireland and Millwall striker Richie Sadlier retire from football at age 24, his life spiraled out of control. Without structure or a sense of purpose, and fueled by a dependency on alcohol, he spent years running from the dark memories and feelings that had haunted him since childhood. Until one day, he hit rock bottom and decided to confront his demons.

Now a successful soccer pundit, psychotherapist and mental-fitness teacher, Recovering is about a life shaped by efforts to escape, and how it is possible to rebuild a life, piece by piece, with the right help. Inspiring and groundbreaking, it is an important reflection on the need to move away from perceptions of shame in our discussions about mental health, sex, relationships and addiction.