AN awestruck football fan had the chance to interview Premier League heroes and global superstars while penning his own book.

Author Ollie Baines, of Frinton, is celebrating the release of his first book called Cross the Line.

It focuses on the personal tales of Christian footballers, talking about religion and their experiences in the beautiful game.

Writing the book gave Ollie the once-in-a-lifetime chance to interview a string of megastars.

The long list of players interviewed for the book includes Premier League stars Daniel Sturridge, Saido Berahino, Victor Wanyama and Odion Ighalo.

But arguably the biggest coup for Ollie was persuading former AC Milan and Real Madrid star Kaka to appear.

Ollie, who co-authored the book with pal Liam Flint, says he was told to write about football and faith by God.

He started a Cross the Line website with Liam, primarily interviewing Christian footballers.

The avid Norwich City fan said: “It started really well and we had some great interviews with players like George Moncur.

“They turned out well but we didn’t have any really big profile players.

“Then out of the blue last August we were invited to a publisher’s HQ in London where they asked us if we would write a book, and of course we said yes.

“They wanted to fast track it and have really high profile footballers in there.

“So the second we stepped out of that office we started researching and trying to contact people.”

They were given a five-month deadline and set out interviewing players immediately.

Ollie said: “We were lucky to get some massive international stars agree to be a part of it.

“To hear their stories and be able to tell them was an incredible privilege and to get that insight into the footballing world is unbelievable.

“We did a mix of in-person, phone and email interviews – however we could get it done, as we were both working our day jobs alongside this.”

He counts interviewing World Cup winner Kaka as his highlight, while Sammy Ameobi gave one of the best stories.

“I had to organise Kaka months in advance,” he said.

“He was the iconic Christian footballer for me growing up and was one of the very best players in the world.

“I was awestruck to start with, but you have to give yourself a little reality check and make sure you do a professional job.

“But he was an amazing guy, so open and humble about his story.”

Cross the Line is out now and available on Amazon and in selected shops. People can follow @crossthelinex_ on Twitter for more details.

Ollie added: “The whole thing has been incredible. It is so exciting.”