In my younger days, the template was always Pat Nevin. A footballer who 'liked Joy Division' was...well, someone a bit like me, basically. Football in those days seemed like an impregnable fortress of conformism. Even from a young age, reading Shoot magazine, the mono-cultural nature of the profession was remarkable. Pre-match meal: steak & chips. Favourite actor: Clint Eastwood. Favorite hobby: driving. It still seems like that in many ways. The number of openly gay players, say, is still tiny.
But there were always outliers: cerebral types, or those with alternative careers or weird un-footballey hobbies. I came across some quotes by Peter Crouch on Benoit Assou-Ekotto - who famously "doesn't like football" which reminded me of a fella i knew in Thialnad who used to paint houses for Liverpool footballers and became Jason McAteer's mate, eventually moving up to Sunderland for a bit to hang out with him and 'paint his house'. I remember this lad saying to me the thing that struck him about footballers was how many of them 'weren't really bothered about football' - he cited Grant McCann as an example - wouldn't check the scores, know who their next game was against etc. Weird, obviously, for the likes of us.
Anyway, an article about Eric Dier has prompted me to start this thread, dedicated to footballers who 'break the mould'.
anti-Brexit diehard
"two discrete lunches"
But there were always outliers: cerebral types, or those with alternative careers or weird un-footballey hobbies. I came across some quotes by Peter Crouch on Benoit Assou-Ekotto - who famously "doesn't like football" which reminded me of a fella i knew in Thialnad who used to paint houses for Liverpool footballers and became Jason McAteer's mate, eventually moving up to Sunderland for a bit to hang out with him and 'paint his house'. I remember this lad saying to me the thing that struck him about footballers was how many of them 'weren't really bothered about football' - he cited Grant McCann as an example - wouldn't check the scores, know who their next game was against etc. Weird, obviously, for the likes of us.
Anyway, an article about Eric Dier has prompted me to start this thread, dedicated to footballers who 'break the mould'.
anti-Brexit diehard
"two discrete lunches"
