5 Footballers who hold/held educational qualifications
Footballers are not often identified as intellectual beings. Most of the footballers begin training at a very young age and their concentration and prioritization of the game often lead to them giving up on their educational aspirations.
However, there have been some players who have bucked the trend by ensuring that the time in between their footballing obligations is put to educational use.
They have not only enjoyed a stellar footballing career but have also been able to attain educational qualifications in their area of interest and in this segment we take a look at 5 footballers who also hold educational degrees.
Steve Coppell (Degree in Economic History)
The former Manchester United and England winger Steve Coppell was regarded as one of the best in the business during his playing days. The Liverpool born attacker featured over 300 times for the Red Devils in the late 1970’s as well as early 1980’s and was also a pivotal member of the England squad winning a few trophies during his playing career.
However, a horrendous knee injury forced the nippy winger to retire earlier than most people would have expected at the age of 28 and Coppell has taken the natural course of moving into football management and is the current manager of Jamshedpur FC after stints with the likes of Crystal Palace, Manchester City, and Reading
However, there is one aspect of his life that has often gone unnoticed and that is his academic achievement. The Liverpool born Coppell had attracted a lot of attention from several top clubs in England but decided to join Tranmere Rovers so that his pursuit of a degree in economic history would not be brought to an abrupt halt.
Even when he decided to move to the greatly admired Manchester United, it was under the condition that he would be allowed to pursue his studies in economics at the University of Liverpool and the player achieved his dream of obtaining a degree while still plying his trade for Manchester United.