The long and winding road

‘Hell’ is a subjective term. Especially amid such a sustained period of global uncertainty, for some people there might be limited sympathy for a professional footballer being consigned to, essentially, paid leave in plush surroundings surrounded by loved ones. But everything is relative and, for an athlete, the mental toll of being unable to fulfil his or her purpose cannot be underestimated.

Professional footballers find their vocation extraordinarily early in life. Marcus Rashford, for instance, is paid to play football in a Manchester United shirt, a professional extension of something the 24-year-old has been doing since he was seven. That’s 70 per cent of his life on one career path,…