The extraordinary story of Raheem Sterling: 'If you carry on the way you're going, when you're 17 you'll either be playing for England or you'll be in prison!'

Raheem Sterling will be the youngest and smallest player on the pitch at Goodison Park, at 17 and 5ft 7in, but those who know him say he is unlikely to flinch at the furious atmosphere of his first Merseyside derby.

Long before he confirmed his place as football's next big thing with his first Premier League goal last weekend, Sterling was a whippet-quick slip of a boy from Jamaica with flowing plaits, using his skill to embarrass grown men in adult matches, laughing as they floundered in his wake.

Now Brendan Rodgers is relying on the improbable shining light in his struggling side to give Liverpool the kind of emphatic lift that only a victory in a derby can bring.

Star in the making: Raheem Sterling in action for Liverpool

His journey to one of the most fearsome cauldrons in football began almost 5,000 miles away in a notoriously dangerous district of Kingston, Jamaica, where he lived until he was six, when he emigrated to Britain and settled with his family on one of London's toughest estates.



His remarkable story is a glorious example of how parents, schools and football clubs can combine to turn sporting talent into success in even the most difficult circumstances.

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Chris Beschi, who taught Sterling at Vernon House Special School, says it is testament to his strength of character and the support system around him that he is on the path to fulfilling his sizeable potential.

'He came to Vernon House because he was having problems in mainstream primary school with his behaviour,' said Beschi. 'He was definitely the kid in the school who had a kind and innocent passion about him. He had a happy nature that would sometimes tip over into anger.'

Beschi added: 'I remember saying to him as a 10-year-old, "If you carry on the way you're going, by the time you're 17 you'll either be playing for England or you'll be in prison". It was a harsh thing to say and I don't think it was a defining moment for him, but I definitely felt it was true.

'There wasn't going to be a middle ground for him. He wasn't going to be some guy working as a mechanic or a labourer. He was always going to be remarkable.'

Sterling was the tiny boy with a huge smile in a class of troubled youngsters.

Beschi would walk a mile with them every week, across a trading estate, to take pictures of a building site where often nothing much changed at all.

It took far longer than anticipated but, before Sterling's eyes, the new Wembley Stadium was completed.

The iconic arch became a backdrop to his junior football career, visible from his home on St Raphael's estate in Neasden, north-west London, where he shunned gangs to play five-a-side with friends, and the Copland High School playing fields, in nearby Wembley, where he honed his game.

Last month, Sterling, already an England Under-21 player, sat on the bench at Wembley with Gary Cahill and Michael Carrick as an unused substitute in his first senior call-up.

Roy Hodgson is so impressed by what he calls Sterling's 'meteoric rise' that he is expected to include him in the squad again for next month's friendly against Sweden.

It is a long way from his beginnings in Maverley, Jamaica - a community with no-go areas controlled by gangs.

It is 'one of the most deprived areas on the whole island', according to a Jamaican journalist. 'It contains marginalised ghetto communities lacking basic facilities and struggling to control gun crime.'

When he was just 14, Sterling was featured on the front page of The Gleaner, held up as a local Maverley boy done good and the newspaper suggested he might choose to play international football for Jamaica rather than England.

Sterling returned to Maverley this summer for the funeral of his grandfather and was trailed by awed youngsters aware of his growing stature for Liverpool and England. He played football with them, yards from the home he once lived in on Reapers Road, where a 15-year-old was shot dead in 2009.

Long way up: Raheem Sterling in action for England Under-17s in 2011

Although violent crime was not as prevalent as in Maverley, life on St Raphael's, an estate of Thirties terraced houses and Seventies blocks of flats sandwiched between Wembley stadium and the North Circular, was not struggle free.

'There's a gang operating on St Raphael's and it's very difficult to get the youngsters from that estate to mix with young people from the bigger neighbouring Stonebridge estate, where sporting facilities are better,' said Ann John, a Labour councillor for Stonebridge Ward. 'A huge amount has been done in terms of regeneration, particularly involving young people in sport. More facilities are available than 20 years ago but it doesn't alter the fact that St Raphael's is an estate where people are poor. This is a real rags-to-riches story, so he deserves all the success he gets.'

Vernon House School is perched on the far edge of the estate and, with no more than six pupils in a class, the school day was adapted to suit Sterling's skills.

Mixing with the big boys: Raheem Sterling battles with Arsenal's Mikel Arteta

'Raheem played two hours of football a day in school,' said Beschi. 'He wasn't just skilful, he knew how and when to pass and how to go backwards which, for a kid, was unheard of. We'd play games where it was 10-a-side, five kids and five adults. Playing with Raheem was like having another adult on the team. He'd play the ball over my shoulder, through my legs and he would do it laughing. He would suck in 25-year-old men who played Sunday League.'

Less than a dozen games into his Premier League career, Sterling's awareness is apparent and this savvy is something his former coaches agree was always there.

The young stars who made it Pele Starring role in Brazil's 1958 World Cup win at 17 turned him into the game's first true superstar and, most say, the greatest of all time. Wayne Rooney Scored for Everton against Arsenal the week before his 17th birthday. Has won four Premier League titles and the Champions League since with Manchester United. Michael Owen Made scoring debut for Liverpool, aged 17, and the next year won the Golden Boot. Crowned European Footballer of the Year in 2001 and scored 40 goals for England, putting him third in the all-time list. James Milner Broke Rooney's record by scoring his first Premier League goal for Leeds aged 16 years, 309 days. Milner has enjoyed moves to Newcastle, Aston Villa and Manchester City.

'Raheem is amazingly intelligent in so many ways,' said Beschi, 'At Vernon House he would have been statemented as having special educational needs. It's a stigma to have when someone like Raheem is a brilliant thinker.

'He would get concepts off the football pitch as well as on it. He had a great work ethic which lots of the other kids didn't.'

Sterling demonstrated his precocious talent for Alpha and Omega Youth Football Club on evenings and weekends and, before long, QPR had recruited an 11-year-old Sterling to their Centre of Excellence.

'There was good and bad in that team,' said QPR academy director Steve Gallen. 'The good was Raheem and the bad was the rest of the team. A match would finish 6-5 and Raheem would have scored five goals while the rest let six in.'

His devastation in defeat, as much as his will to win, impressed Gallen, who nicknamed his prodigy "Raheem Park Rangers", because of his ability to win matches on his own.

'He was inconsolable,' said Gallen, 'He'd be on the sideline crying and I would say "Don't worry about the result, you played great". His mentality is his strongest attribute. That's what will get him a career for the next 15 years. He was a coach's dream, I just laid the foundations for him to succeed. You've almost just got to roll out the red carpet and give him a platform to perform.'

And those who didn't Francis Jeffers Striker hailed as a 'fox in the box' when he became an Everton regular aged 16. Arsene Wenger signed him but let him go after two seasons. This month he signed for his 11th club, Floriana in Malta. Jose Baxter Midfielder was just 16 years 191 days when he became the youngest player in Everton's history, in 2008. Left last summer. Still only 20, he now plays for Oldham Athletic. Wayne Harrison European champions Liverpool paid Oldham £250,000 for Harrison in 1985, an unknown 17-year-old. He retired at 23, after 12 knee operations and just one first-team game for the Anfield club. Freddy Adu Marketed as the young sensation who would turn 'soccer' into America's national sport, success came early for Adu, who signed a $1million deal with Nike and appeared on chat shows at 13. Now plays for MLS side Philadelphia Union.

Sterling's consistent brilliance and moments of magic did not stay secret for long, despite Gallen's best efforts.

Crowds at QPR Under-18 matches, usually 70-80 strong, swelled to 350-400 watchers, keen to catch a glimpse of Sterling, the 14-year-old wunderkind who was playing several years above.

'I fought like crazy to keep him and I was adamant he wasn't going,' said Gallen, 'I was very close with him and his mum, who's a lovely lady. But towards the end of his time at QPR, everyone knew he was available.

'Manchester City and Chelsea had watched plenty of times and Arsenal, but in the end only Liverpool and Fulham came in for him.'

The attention was not always of a positive nature. As Sterling's star continued to rise, so did the undertones of resentment from local youngsters.

'There were definitely concerns for him about where he came from,' said Gallen, 'His mum was worried about kids in his area possibly being jealous, and that may have been a factor in moving Raheem away from London.

'Raheem never brought it to my attention but there were a few other coaches for QPR who came up to me and said, "Steve, it's a tough area and there are people whispering about him and he has to be mindful of where he's living". It was a big concern and QPR were doing everything they could to rehouse him if he signed the new contract.'

The lure of Liverpool was too strong and a £1million deal took him to Merseyside a month before he turned 15, where he moved in with "house parents" and continued his education at Rainhill School in St Helens.

Academy director Frank McParland says he is the best winger who has ever come through the Liverpool FC system.

'I was very excited by the level of him technically and his incredible pace, you saw a lot of star quality in him,' said McParland. 'I think he's had to learn the Spanish style of play because even though he's an individual player, if he's going to play at the highest level he needs to know other aspects of the game. The manager now is pressing really high, so if you're just playing for yourself and you're not a team player you'll struggle to get in the team.'



Steady influence: Brendan Rodgers is strict with the young players at Liverpool

In truth, Brendan Rodgers' hand has been forced to thrust Sterling and fellow academy products Suso, 18, and Andre Wisdom, 19, into the first team by a lack of strength and depth in his squad.

Rodgers appears to be handling his young players in a frank but fair manner. He advocates a 'tough love' approach with Sterling.

The tough side was evident in a clip from the on-the-wall documentary series Being: Liverpool, where Rodgers gives Sterling a ticking off for interrupting his team talk. Rodgers is familiar with the challenges young players like Sterling face, having been the Under-18 coach at Chelsea and the director of Reading FC Academy before that.

Already a father of two, with reports of a third child disputed, Sterling must ensure he remains dedicated to his career. There are reams of cautionary tales of those who are promised the world at 17 and have disappeared by 21.

'Brendan knows that young lads can be seduced by glitz and agents and everyone around them,' said Gallen. 'But there's too much of a fighting spirit in Raheem to get through what he has to where he is. I just can't see him letting it go away. He just loves playing football too much.'



