1. Graeme Le Saux – The distinguished former England, Blackburn and Chelsea left-back attended Kingston University and was well-known for reading The Guardian. Although he is married, with two children, opposition fans and even players took great delight in insinuating homosexuality on his part. Robbie Fowler famously wiggled his rear end at him as he prepared to take a free-kick and he claims that David Beckham once called him a “poof”. Which is a bit rich coming from someone who wears skirts and names their children as if they were poodles.
2. Barry Horne – “Oh, Horne!” The Welsh midfielder was immortalised for the dipping 30-yard volley against Wimbledon which secured Everton’s top flight status on the final day of the 1993/94 season but he is also notable for having gained a first-class university degree in chemistry from the University of Liverpool. Now a semi-prominent pundit, Horne supposedly worked at The King's School, Chester, as a chemistry and physics teacher and director of football. Even so, we still reckon he just wellied it and hoped for the best.
3. Frank Lampard – The Chelsea and England lynchpin attended the prestigious Brentwood School, where he got 11 GCSEs, including an A in Latin, which may explain why he decided to name his daughter Luna. His team-mates at Stamford Bridge nicknamed him ‘The Professor’ after he scored significantly above the national average IQ in a test conducted on the squad earlier this year. “Frank Lampard scored one of the highest set of marks ever recorded by the company doing the tests,” reported Dr Brian English, with newspapers suggesting that his score was higher than that of Carol 'used to be known as the Thinking Man’s Totty but now she's just that b*tch from Question Time' Vorderman.
4. Steve Coppell – Several top clubs expressed an interest in Coppell when he was a youngster, but he chose to join Tranmere in order to obtain a degree in economic history at the University of Liverpool – which he did. While there, he coached the university football team. It was not the only time that Coppell would be associated with Higher Reading – he managed the Royals to promotion with a record points tally in 2006.*
5. Steve Palmer – The former Ipswich, Watford, QPR and MK Dons centre-back obtained a degree in software engineering from Cambridge University. He is the only footballer of the modern era to be educated there and, in 1987, he played a first-class cricket match for the University alongside a young Michael Atherton.
Le Saux...not that there's anything wrong with it
6. Neil MacKenzie – The Tamworth and then-Notts County midfielder not only became the first footballer ever to appear on Countdown, doing so in June 2008, but also went on to win five consecutive episodes of the Channel 4 institution. Persuaded by his mother to audition for the show, he became an ‘Octochamp’ by winning the maximum of eight heats, and made it to the series quarter-finals, where he lost out to eventual winner Junaid Mubeen. He won a crystal vase for his efforts. "I have always been pretty solid on the words and good at the conundrums - so the important thing was not to disgrace myself," he said. "The adrenaline does get running but Des O'Connor was great and he makes you relax, so the nerves went after about five minutes of the show."
7. David Wetherall – While a youngster at Sheffield Wednesday, the former Leeds United and Bradford City centre-back got four A grades at A-level before going on to gain a first-class honours degree in Chemistry from Sheffield University. Bradford fans once paid tribute to his academic prowess by turning up to a game against Rochdale wearing lab coats. He also represented Great Britain in the 1991 World Student Games, which may or may not still exist. (*Consults Google*) They do, but Great Britain declined to enter a team this year, prompting criticism from “leading athletes”.
8. Iain Dowie – Implausibly – at least to anyone who’s ever heard him speak – the former Crystal Palace player and manager graduated with a Master's degree in engineering from Southampton University. And, what’s more, he worked for British Aerospace while playing for non-league Cheshunt. All of which is a lot more impressive than the jobs he did at Charlton and Coventry.
9. Shaka Hislop – The former Newcastle and West Ham goalkeeper is perhaps even cleverer than his namesake Ian. He graduated with an honours degree in mechanical engineering from Howard University in Washington DC and was an intern at NASA. However, he is yet to be tested at indulging in witty repartee with Paul Merton.
10. Socrates – Well, with a name like that, he had to be a bit of a clever clogs. Aside from captaining one of the all-time great Brazil teams, Socrates completed doctorates in medicine and, you guessed it, philosophy. He was also a trained paediatrician. Beat that, Lucio.
No comments:
Post a Comment