I went from eating snakes to stay alive to scoring a EPL winner against Man Utd

A former Premier League star has opened up about their tough childhood and the extents they went to for food growing up in Cameroon before a career at the pinnacle of the game.

I went from eating snakes to stay alive to scoring a EPL winner against Man Utd
2 hours ago / autty
A former Premier League star has opened up about their tough childhood and the extents they went to for food growing up in Cameroon before a career at the pinnacle of the game.

In a wide-ranging interview, former Wolves defender George Elokobi told the Sun all about the struggles he faced as a youth.

'Life was tough as a kid. My dad died when I was 10 of diabetes. He was my role model.

'I sometimes had to go without meals. I was having to eat out of trash cans. I was a scavenger.

'Also I hunted birds. I'd either used a catapult or set traps. I also had to catch and eat snakes or digest raw potatoes taken from the ground without even washing them.

'I had to make do with anything I could put in my stomach.

'It was a life without having real running water, where we had to walk miles to fetch water, then miles back.'

Despite admitting he never received any coaching until the age of 16 - after he was able to move to England once his mother secured a visa for Elokobi to study in the UK - he earned a move to Wolves from Colchester United for £500,000 in 2008.