English graduate Seth Burkett on his latest book and football in Sri Lanka

A group of people in football kits

Author Seth Burkett tells us about his latest book: Titans of the Teardrop Isle, and about his experience of playing professional football in Sri Lanka.

Loughborough English graduate, Seth Burkett, has published a new book about his time playing professional football in Sri Lanka.

During his time at Loughborough, Seth studied English and Sports Science BA and went on to complete an English MA.

Having written seven books, including collaborations with footballers and world-famous Youtubers, as well as fiction and non-fiction books for children, Seth’s Titans of the Teardrop Isle is his latest publication.

The book follows Seth's time playing professional football in Sri Lanka with the Trinco Titans, owned by Sri Lankan cricketing legends Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. The book's synopsis describes the highs and lows of Seth's narrative:

'Unfortunately, [Seth] is in the dark about the quality of football, the standard of pitches, the delicate local political tensions, even the dates of the fixtures... Before long, he is fully immersed in the Titans family, experiencing everything the country has to offer him: new friendships, picture-postcard beaches, a relaxed approach to organisation and time-keeping, thousands of new Facebook followers, and a crash course in the Teardrop Isle's recent troubled history. There will be results to forget but it will be a summer to remember.'

Seth explained his motivation behind writing the book:

Titans of the Teardrop Isle covers my time playing pro football in Sri Lanka, a unique and fascinating country. I took on the contract with the intention of writing about my experiences and hope I've done justice to the brilliant people I met. Writing has become a passion of mine since studying English at Loughborough University, where reading diverse texts opened my eyes to different writing styles. I hope there will be many more books to come.”

Seth’s first book, The Boy in Brazil, documented his experience of playing for the Brazilian team, Sorriso, and was shortlisted for the 2015 British Sport Book Awards. He later collaborated with the England futsal manager, Michael Skubala, on Developing the Modern Footballer Through Futsal and ghostwrote Neil Beasley’s narrative - Football's Coming Out - which was longlisted for the 2016 William Hill Sports Book of the Year.