Fringes
Ben Mercer
LONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR PRIZE 2020
Sports books tend to detail extraordinary achievements, triumphs against the odds or commemorate World Cup winning captains.
This book does not do that.
For many, playing professional sport is the Dream Job. Few manage it, very few make it to the top and for the rest, life is very different. This is their story.
In Fringes, Ben Mercer invites you to witness life at the outer edges of professional rugby. This is a first hand account of what life is like as a journeyman professional athlete. You play, but to the wider public you don't exist. You earn but you don't drive a flash car. You sometimes pack out a stadium but sometimes, you play in a deserted park. This is the story for the majority of sports professionals. Only the minority taste the top, only one person gets to lift the cup or win the medal, only 15 get to play for England at any one time. For the rest, that’s not the case.
Ben Mercer is a former professional rugby player who after becoming disillusioned and uninspired plying his trade in the English Second Division, accepted an offer out of the blue to go to France and do something different - help an amateur team turn professional. This is a first hand account of what life is like in the lower reaches of professional sport - where your employment status is as precarious as your health and barely anyone will know your name.
If you've wanted to know what life is really like as a professional athlete, on the Fringes, away from the glitz and glamour of the international game then look no further.
Duration - 9h 2m.
Author - Ben Mercer.
Narrator - Ben Mercer.
Published Date - Sunday, 22 January 2023.
Copyright - © 2019 Ben Mercer ©.
Location:
United States
Description:
LONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR PRIZE 2020 Sports books tend to detail extraordinary achievements, triumphs against the odds or commemorate World Cup winning captains. This book does not do that. For many, playing professional sport is the Dream Job. Few manage it, very few make it to the top and for the rest, life is very different. This is their story. In Fringes, Ben Mercer invites you to witness life at the outer edges of professional rugby. This is a first hand account of what life is like as a journeyman professional athlete. You play, but to the wider public you don't exist. You earn but you don't drive a flash car. You sometimes pack out a stadium but sometimes, you play in a deserted park. This is the story for the majority of sports professionals. Only the minority taste the top, only one person gets to lift the cup or win the medal, only 15 get to play for England at any one time. For the rest, that’s not the case. Ben Mercer is a former professional rugby player who after becoming disillusioned and uninspired plying his trade in the English Second Division, accepted an offer out of the blue to go to France and do something different - help an amateur team turn professional. This is a first hand account of what life is like in the lower reaches of professional sport - where your employment status is as precarious as your health and barely anyone will know your name. If you've wanted to know what life is really like as a professional athlete, on the Fringes, away from the glitz and glamour of the international game then look no further. Duration - 9h 2m. Author - Ben Mercer. Narrator - Ben Mercer. Published Date - Sunday, 22 January 2023. Copyright - © 2019 Ben Mercer ©.
Language:
English
Opening Credits
Duration:00:00:14
01 - Introduction
Duration:00:03:59
02 - YEAR ONE - Crossing the Channel
Duration:00:06:17
03 - What was I Thinking? The Allure of French Rugby
Duration:00:09:34
04 - Welcome to Stade Rouennais Rugby
Duration:00:24:54
05 - Rouen
Duration:00:11:24
06 - A Flying Start
Duration:00:05:35
07 - The Paris Suburbs
Duration:00:12:50
08 - Le Gros Theil
Duration:00:12:34
09 - Strasbourg
Duration:00:07:25
10 - Pride in the Jersey
Duration:00:07:14
11 - My First Christmas Break
Duration:00:05:20
12 - Back to It
Duration:00:11:25
13 - Saturday Night Fever
Duration:00:12:14
14 - Race to the Summit
Duration:00:16:58
15 YEAR TWO - Operation Promotion
Duration:00:13:17
16 - La Residence
Duration:00:09:51
17 - You Can’t Win Em All
Duration:00:26:21
18 - The Big Bigs
Duration:00:16:12
19 - Dopage
Duration:00:17:11
20 - Back to the Diochon
Duration:00:17:35
21 - Off to the Playoffs
Duration:00:08:14
22 - On the Way Up, Passing Those on the Way Down
Duration:00:13:01
23 - Being a Man
Duration:00:13:01
24 - Promotion Achieved
Duration:00:05:40
25 - YEAR THREE - Fêdêrale 1 and Becoming French
Duration:00:20:31
26 - Settled In
Duration:00:17:01
27 - Vannes
Duration:00:04:41
28 - Captain Hindsight
Duration:00:09:01
29 - It’s Ok We’ve Got This Now
Duration:00:22:14
30 - The Battle of Bagnères
Duration:00:14:53
31 - Not There Yet
Duration:00:08:41
32 - YEAR FOUR - The Last Crusade - Pre Preseason
Duration:00:17:11
33 - Kicking Off
Duration:00:05:33
34 - The Rise of the Super Cabbage
Duration:00:12:45
35 - Rumour Mill Rumbling
Duration:00:17:48
36 - La Reprise
Duration:00:09:08
37 - Acting Up
Duration:00:11:41
38 - The Takeover
Duration:00:07:03
39 - Injury
Duration:00:06:44
40 - Athletic Capacity
Duration:00:10:18
41 - Respect
Duration:00:12:44
42 - Goodbye Rouen
Duration:00:08:31
43 - En Route to the Final
Duration:00:06:03
44 - The Final
Duration:00:13:14
45 - Celebrate Good Times
Duration:00:05:11
46 - What Happened Next
Duration:00:08:30
47 - Acknowledgments
Duration:00:05:03
Closing Credits
Duration:00:00:06