SERGIO TORRES probably hadn't heard of Non-League football, let alone his future stomping grounds Molesey, Basingstoke Town and Crawley Town when he arrived in?England a little less than ten years ago with a big dream.
The 22-year-old boy from Mar del Plata had spent his life savings on a plane ticket to turn his back on working in the family Brick Factory and have one last crack at professional football.
Without a word of English in his vocabulary, he only knew London as Big Ben and Buckingham Palace.
Now in League One with Crawley Town after playing a pivotal role in their 2011 Conference title and League Two promotion a year later, the leap of faith was certainly worth it.
“The Brick Factory is a family business – I would run around there at 12 or 13 and then when I was about 14 I started working there,” Torres says. “It was hot and dirty. In the summer it was so hot. I was like, ‘This is not what I want to do – my dream is to play professional football.'
“If you're 20 or 21 in Argentina it is very hard to make it if you haven't already. So I got my savings and came to England.
“I was on that plane and so scared. I didn't even know who was picking me up. I was living in Norbury, near Croydon. I was like, ‘This is London?' It wasn't what I expected.
“I was taken to this house and shown my room. I couldn't speak English so I couldn't communicate. I was so tired so I got in bed. An hour later someone woke me up and said can you move over, I'm sharing the bed as well.
“What!? The first night I was thinking, ‘What am I doing here?'”
After a trial at Brighton & Hove Albion, then boss Mark McGhee didn't fancy Torres saying he didn't have the right tools for English football. But instead of returning to South America, it was off to leafy suburb Molesey.
Rivalry
“The manager told me I wasn't strong or quick enough,” Torres says. “It helped me him saying that because I knew I needed to improve a lot. It made me more hungry to stay.
“When I went to Molesey and Basingstoke it was completely different to anything I'd played in. When I was back home I only played when I had the ball at my feet. When I came to England I had to learn the other stuff. Now I fight more than I play.”
If sharing a bed in a tiny house had been an ordeal when he first arrived, the boardroom of his next stop – Basingstoke Town – was relative luxury.
“Me and another Argentinean Christian Levis didn't have any money when Basingstoke wanted us on trial,” said Torres.
“We didn't have anywhere to stay and a family took us in to stay with them.
“I always tell my people in Argentina how nice English people are. Of course because of the war there is rivalry. Back home everyone thought England is really bad.
“After three or four months they had people coming over and we couldn't stay there any more so the club said we could live in the boardroom.
“It was funny. We had fold up beds. On game days we had to hide away all our stuff so the directors could have tea!
“We were working in Boots at the same time – that helped me a lot with my language.
“We had to work on two Saturdays a month so when Basingstoke were at home me and Christian worked from six in the morning until 12, then cycled home to have something to eat before going to the ground.
“It was hard work in the warehouse. The first time we did it I fell asleep in Ernie Howe's team talk. Christian elbowed me to wake me up! We played Grays, who were flying, but I ended up getting man of the match.”
Dreams
Despite losing 7-2 to Wycombe Wanderers in pre-season, Torres did enough to impress John Gorman to get his first professional contract.
A big money move to Peterborough followed where the Argentinean really found life difficult. “I fell into a bit of depression, things weren't going to plan and I was close to going home,” Torres says.
“That was the first time I put pressure on myself because they paid £150,000 for me. I thought, ‘How can they pay this much, I need to prove myself'.
“I got injured, was missing Wycombe and I didn't want to go to training. I'd just met Lena, who is now my wife, and her and my family helped me. I saw a sports psychologist which really helped too and then coming to Crawley was the best decision I made.”
He rejuvenated his career with Crawley, scoring a late winner to knock-out Derby County live on TV on their way to the fifth round and Manchester United where he bagged Michael Carrick's shirt.
“When I played against Manchester United for Crawley or at Chelsea for Wycombe or when I scored against Derby I realise everything I did was worth it,” he says.
Now Torres, who has a daughter, Luna, with his wife, has released an English translation of his book about his remarkable and inspiring journey.
Fittingly titled From the Brick Factory to Old Trafford, it is sold in all his former clubs' shops, on Amazon and in Waterstone's.
“The book is about dreams, sacrifice, joy and happiness,” Torres says. “In Argentina people who don't even like football have said they love the book.
“It's more focused on the life story. Yes, it was my dream but it could be like anyone else's.”
