Lower categories football players who have to study to live

You will be surprised to find out that there are professional lower league football players who not only rise from the ranks to become professionals and take centre stage in the footballing world but also are educated.

Let’s go over some of the famous players you don’t know are educated. 

• Socrates

Socrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, popularly known as Socrates, is one of the great players to grace the world cup. Having risen from the ranks in Brazil, he went on to captain the national side to victory in the world cup.

He is regarded as probably the greatest captain to have won the world cup, but that is not due to his exceptional style of play on the football pitch alone. Socrates is a qualified doctor, and after he retired from professional football, he went on to studied in Ireland and completed a PhD degree in Philosophy.

• Vincent Kompany

Vincent Kompany is known as the Manchester City captain that helped them lift premier league titles, but there is more about the man. Do you know that he has a Master’s in Business Administration?

In 2017, Kompany graduated from Alliance Manchester Business School with a keen interest in the world of football off the pitch. No wonder he took up a managerial role at Anderlecht after he stopped playing professionally.

When he was faced with presenting his final dissertation project, he looked into how Premier League football clubs benefit from home advantage. And it received a distinction grade. 

• Juan Mata

Juan Mata is another professional football with ups and downs. He might have gained more popularity when he announced his Common Goal initiative back in 2017, but there is more about him outside of football.

While he played for Valencia and Chelsea football clubs, he earned two degrees, Marketing and Sports Science, from Madrid’s Universidad Camilo Jose Cela. Nowadays it is easy to find a college essay writer to help you with any academic project to ease your college life.

Towards the beginning of his seventh season in the Premier League, he announced that he would go into coaching at the end of his career. Still, he didn’t leave out the opportunity to go into psychology in the future.

• Iain Dowie

Iain Dowie is well over 50 years now, but he had a formidable career. With 400 appearances across a 13-year career as a forward and 59 caps for the Republic of Ireland, you will agree that the man sure played a lot of football.

However, it wasn’t easy for him early in his career. His football looked like it was over before it even started then after Southampton released him. So, he enrolled in the University of Hertfordshire, where he earned a Master’s degree in Engineering and got a job at British Aerospace.

However, while playing in non-league, Luton Town spotted him and went into football full-time. In 2016, Dowie was appointed regional sales manager for Go To Surveys, a company which carries out homebuyers reports, building surveys and valuations.

• Simon Mignolet

Simon Mignolet is another excellent example of a top-class footballer with a higher educational background. He has a political science degree which he obtained during his career in England and also speaks five languages.

He definitely among the players who study for their exams, write essays and also pursued a career in football. One can wonder if he wrote his essays himself or employed the help of college essay writing services with college papers for sale. Professional writing services like Edubirdie will help every student to do your assignment.

While granting an interview, Simon revealed that he wanted to earn a college degree in case his football career goes south. However, he mentioned that he prioritize having enough time for his two worlds during the time.

• Andres Iniesta

Andres Iniesta needs no introduction. When he takes the ball, the entire world waits to see a miracle happen. He is an influential Spanish midfielder who holds several awards and honours to his name. He is also considered intelligent, and there is a reason for that.

Beyond his capabilities on the football pitch, however, Iniesta holds not just a degree but two. He holds a degree in Biology and another in Sports science.

• Glen Johnson

England’s former defender, Glen Johnson, is another player that makes the list of players who has a higher education degree. He had a fruitful career and scored 15 goals in 365 matches in the English premier league. With his success in football, he also has success off the pitch.

He revealed that he spends two hours daily studying for his exams on his to earning a degree in Mathematics. Surprisingly, he held this as a secret until 2012.

• Frank Lampard

Former English national and Chelsea attacking midfielder needs little or no introduction at all. Known for his dynamic playing capabilities, powerful strikes, and accurate passing, Frank was praised even by the opposition supporters and was one of the most loved England national team players. However, not too many people will tell you that former Derby County manager also attended the prestigious Brentwood School, where he excelled in Latin and scored 11GCSEs. His high IQ and eloquence earned him the nickname “Professor,” as many of his teammates used to call Mr. Lampard.

Football players may be seen as a bunch of young boys kicking the ball and earning huge wages, but there is more. A lot of these players do have careers outside of football. Steve Palmer, with a degree in Computer Software design, Duncan Watmore with a degree in Economics, and Shaka Hislop with a Mechanical engineering degree are some of the other many players who are educated.