Top 10 Double Lives Of Professional Footballers You Didn't Know About
From politicians to part-time spy, here are some of the weirdest, most interesting second jobs of big-time footballers you never knew they had.
By Darian Goh — 23 May 2014, 05:59 PM — Updated almost 10 years ago
1. Besides terrorising defences at Tottenham and Lokomotiv Moscow, Roman Pavlyuchenko was a politician in his local council Stavropol
In Russia, Pavlyuchenko is a local Duma (city council) deputy in Stavropol, representing the ruling Vladimir Putin-led United Russia party, although "because of my profession it won't be easy for me to take part directly in the workings of the city council but I am ready to help with advice and with a concrete contribution to the development possibilities for exercise and sport".
2. Brazilian legend Socrates was a qualified doctor who made sure that he finished his studies before playing football professionally
The qualified doctor, who refused to play football professionally until he completed his studies aged 25, practised medicine in the Brazilian town of Ribeirao Preto when he hung up his boots in 1989.
3. Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Cole were formidable as defenders for England, but off the pitch they were executive producers for a 50 Cent movie
As Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Cole were due to line up for England last night, a film the pair executively produced was given a first screening in central London. Dead Man Running, released on 30 October, is an enjoyable if uneven caper that stars 50 Cent, Oscar nominee Brenda Blethyn, Britflick regular Danny Dyer and Tamer Hassan, who as the lead Nick Kane has 24 hours to find £100,000 or feel the wrath of "Fiddy".
theguardian.com
4. Besides bossing the midfield for Liverpool and England, evergreen Steven Gerrard is also a restauranteur, buying his favourite restaurant "Warehouse Brasserie"
Gerrard teamed up with hotelier Paul Adams to relaunch the Warehouse Brasserie in Southport, Merseyside. The father of two said he was determined to be more than just the "celebrity face" of the business but added that football remained his priority.
5. Norwegian Morten Gamst-Pedersen, best known for his spell at Blackburn Rovers was also part of a boyband called 'The Players'. They are made up of other professional footballers and have released a single for charity
The Players is a Norwegian boy band consisting of five professional footballers: Freddy dos Santos, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Raymond Kvisvik, Kristofer Hæstad and Øyvind Svenning. They have released one single called This Is For Real. The money made from the sales of the single will go to a Red Cross project called Soccer Against Crime.
6. American international Clint Dempsey was a prolific striker for Fulham and the United States. However in his free time, he drops lyrics as a rapper under the alias 'Deuce'
One of Dempsey's passions outside of soccer is hip hop music. Using the alias "Deuce," he, along with fellow Texas rappers XO and the late Houston rapper Big Hawk from the Screwed Up Click, is featured rapping the song "Don't Tread" in a Nike soccer advertising campaign for the 2006 World Cup with the intention to showcase both the sport's working-class roots and the United States team ahead of the World Cup.
7. Manchester United and French legend Eric Cantona has dabbled into film and also politics. He has appeared in many movies such as "Looking for Eric" and "Elizabeth"
After being perhaps the most flamboyant footballer of the 1990s, Eric Cantona has made a name for himself as an actor, model and politician
imdb.com
8. Known for his blistering pace and skill for Arsenal, Theo Walcott also has a knack for writing, having written four children's books
Theo Walcott is a children's book author besides scoring for fun as a footballer
Image via mirror.co.ukThe Arsenal winger has released a series of children’s books based around the semi-fictional “T.J.”, a young school-boy taking the playground and school team by storm with his goal-scoring abilities. The England international has now released four books; “T.J. and the Hat-trick”, “T.J. and the Penalty”, “T.J. and the Cup Run” and “T.J. and the winning goal”.
informationng.com
9. Australian and Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler not only earned his millions as a footballer but also as a property mogul, owning properties as well as racehorses
Fowler has invested in several racehorses through a chattily named company The Macca and Growler Partnership, most notably 2003 Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Celebration Chase runner-up Seebald. In 2005, Fowler was listed as one of the 1,000 wealthiest Britons by the Sunday Times Rich List, with the paper estimating he has a property portfolio of more than 80, while his Robbie Fowler Sports Promotions company has been reported to have net assets of £1.58 million. Other business interests including a large property portfolio have resulted in Fowler's net wealth totaling £28 million.
10. Gică Popescu, Romanian footballer and former FC Barcelona captain in the 90's was a part-time spy for his country in the early part of his career
Gica Popescu was an informant for Securitate, the secret police of Romania. During the 80s, the Securitate was apparently trying to bring down Steaua Bucharest. Popescu's life as a spy might have made for some conflicts of interest during his playing career.
bleacherreport.com