If you win at athletics, say run the fastest mile in your country, etc., OK. Football, it depends on whether somebody thinks you've got what it takes. You may be brilliant in a small-town team, but will you make it in the big time? OK, it happens, but somebody has got to decide that how you play (how well you write) is good enough for a major league team. We used to play football after work. One of the guys had been an apprentice at Notts. Forest when they were a good team - same group of apprentices as a guy who went on to play for England. You could see his class. But they found a knee problem with him, so they ditched him. Why waste money trying to fix it when they had no guarantee that he'd turn into a top-class player? You don't always get the breaks you deserve.
