Them footballers are smart!!

whiskeyman

Watching the Swansea Vs Fulham game there, and they mentioned Swanseas sub Spanish striker, Guillem Bauza, is a qualified teacher and is currently studying for a genetics degree in Swansea University!

So, who else in the top flight football planet is known, or not that well known, to hold acedemic qualifications or experience for other jobs?

I thought Petr Cech did a degree in engineering in something, or was I wrong?

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Senderos, believe it or not, can speak something like 6 different languages and is supposed to be very intelligent

Diabhal Beag

Jason McAteer and Phil Neville to that statement OP

matrim

Wasn't there an american player (goalkeeper I think) that had 2 or 3 degrees and possibly a masters. At the time he was one the most educated player in the PL.

edit : I think it might have been Kasey Keller

K4t

Don't know of any players who have academic qualifications but Arsene Wenger has a degree in economics. Probably why he's always so gloomy.

Oh and Robbie Keane said he understands that the country is in an economic crisis before the game against Georgia. Don't underestimate what these footballers know.

Royale with Cheese

I know Remi Garde (who?), Arsene Wenger's first signing as Arsenal manager, ended up quitting football to become a doctor.

Oh apparently not, he's a coach at Lyon these days.

anonymous_joe

Valeri Lobyvanovski (appalling spelling I know) the bloke who coached Dynamo Kyiv for years won Soviet Maths Competitions in High School or whatever they called it, and developed all sorts of software for modelling football.

I'd hazard a guess and suggest that as many footballers are smart as are stupid, but a larger proportion of working-class players (especially in England) and the linked lower quality eduacation etc provided would mean that while intelligence is common, education is not.

Look at Tevez, he comes from one of the poorest areas in Argentina. That's especially common in this part of hte world, where football's not played as much in a lot of the better schools.

witnessmenow

former liverpool nunez was a qualified lawyer iirc

grames_bond

K4t wrote: »

Oh and Robbie Keane said he understands that the country is in an economic crisis before the game against Georgia. Don't underestimate what these footballers know.

everyone understands the country is in an economic crisis, its plastered all over the papers.....saying it doesn't really illustrate how intelligent he is. its not like he stated a fiscal plan to solve the crisis! :pac:

shane86

Drogba studied accountancy, although Im not sure if he graduated. Professional football isnt really an area that you can have time to qualify in anything unlike college based sports like rugby and American football.

On the flip, Jermaine Pennant is apparently illiterate And there was some story about an unamed footballer who had the electricity in his mansion cut off because he hadnt a clue what the bills arriving in the mail were about!


Did Beckham ever manage to master Spanish?

eZe^

Ex - Barca player Oleguer is a well known pro-Catalan independence activist. Very very intelligent guy, has an economics degree.. He refuses to ever appear for the Spanish national team.

Oleguer is an economics graduate who missed training with Barcelona to complete his finals. On March 30, 2006, he published his first book with recollections on his youth, early career and the league triumph of 2004-05 (and the subsequent street parade through the Avinguda Diagonal in Barcelona). The book, called Camí d'Itaca (The Road to Ithaca), dealt with such varied subjects as childhood anorexia, the antifascist struggle and the previous Spanish government's involvement in both Gulf Wars, also addressing the player's love of tennis.

Though injured just before the end of the 2005-06 season in a Champions League match and forced to miss the league-winning match against Celta de Vigo, Oleguer was able to return to the pitch to play in the next match at the Camp Nou when the trophy was presented to the team. True to form, Oleguer celebrated wrapped in the colors of the senyera estelada, the Catalan Independist flag. He has said he is an anarchist if by anarchist is meant a person who stands up against social injustice. [7]
He has sympathies with left wing and Catalan nationalist causes and was asked by Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatistas to play a charity match in Chiapas, Mexico during the summer of 2005. Later that year, he was invited to take part in a meeting of shortlisted players for the Spanish national squad, an invitation that he accepted.

On 7 February 2007, in an article written for Basque language newspaper Berria, Oleguer questioned the validity and independence of legal and judicial processes in the Spanish state, using the example of convicted ETA member Jose Ignacio de Juana Chaos and his hunger strike to question those processes. His decision to write the article brought veiled criticism at Barcelona, both from coach Rijkaard president Joan Laporta, as well as earning him the disrespect of fellow professional Salva Ballesta.[8]
As a direct result of the article, Oleguer lost his boot sponsorship with sports firm Kelme,[9]and he subsequently signed for Diadora. Oleguer has been the subject of a strong public backlash among some elements in Spain and is regularly heckled and booed in some of the country's football stadiums due to the article and his pro-Catalan independence stance. When asked about whether he felt that he should not have written the piece, he replied, "The consequences I suffer are nothing compared to what many people go through. What did sadden me, though, was that most people didn't actually read the piece. If people engaged in dialogue with intelligence and disagreed, then fine, but they didn't."

I think he has some poetry iswell, although I'm not quite sure.

Bubs101

playa3 wrote: »

Senderos, believe it or not, can speak something like 6 different languages and is supposed to be very intelligent

Probably something to do with the fact Swistzerland has 4 official languages. Most Swiss are at least bilingual

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

Adamcp898

Nedum Onuoha that plays for Man City stayed on studying at University while playing football, don't know if he graduated or is still stiudying but just remember hearing that at the last U-21 Euro's in 2007

anonymous_joe

eZe^ wrote: »

Ex - Barca player Oleguer is a well known pro-Catalan independence activist. Very very intelligent guy, has an economics degree.. He refuses to ever appear for the Spanish national team.



I think he has some poetry iswell, although I'm not quite sure.

Forgot about Oleguer.

Probably not good enough to play for Spain anyway, in all fairness.

eZe^

Bubs101 wrote: »

Probably something to do with the fact Swistzerland has 4 official languages. Most Swiss are at least bilingual

Isn't the Swiss language like a cocktail of 4 different languages, German, Italian, French and something else.

eZe^

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Forgot about Oleguer.

Probably not good enough to play for Spain anyway, in all fairness.

True, but he made his stance on the matter clear, and apparently he regularly debates with people who engage him on the street. Hahaha, if only his ability matched his Catalan passion.

Adamcp898

eZe^ wrote: »

Isn't the Swiss language like a cocktail of 4 different languages, German, Italian, French and something else.

They have 4 official languages afaik but the main one is Swiss German, it's not exactly similar to german the same way as Austrian german isn't similar to german either but for whatever reason they're both called german

menoscemo

eZe^ wrote: »

Isn't the Swiss language like a cocktail of 4 different languages, German, Italian, French and something else.

In different regions they speak, German, French and Italian. They are the official languages. Most swiss learn English aswell. Although I know some swiss Germans and they spoke very little French or Italian.

LuckyLloyd

witnessmenow wrote: »

former liverpool nunez was a qualified lawyer iirc

This is correct.

Thanx 4 The Fish

witnessmenow wrote: »

former liverpool nunez was a qualified lawyer iirc

Well he had to be good at something I suppose.

LuckyLloyd

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote: »

Well he had to be good at something I suppose.

I dunno, he was a pretty good athlete! Just couldn't kick snow off a rope.

RefulgentGnomon

Steve Coppell - degree in economics
Iain Dowie - masters in (mechanical) engineering!

SectionF

RefulgentGnomon wrote: »

Steve Coppell - degree in economics
Iain Dowie - masters in (mechanical) engineering!

Oliver St John Gogarty, who played for Bohemians back in the day, (hopefully) was a qualified surgeon and also reputed to have been very good at English.

eagle eye

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

I dunno, he was a pretty good athlete! Just couldn't kick snow off a rope.

I'm surprised you haven't mentioned Kevin Moran yet.

A UCD man I believe?

PHB

There's lots of footballers out there who are smart, we just wouldn't know. Johnny Evans for example got 8 A's in his GSCE's or something, but he went off to become a football player.

Thanx 4 The Fish

GCSEs are fncking rubbish though, I have been over here for years now and they are hardly worth the paper they are printed on. The english education system is far belwo the level of Irelands.

I woud take a lad to work for me who had 5 ordinary level Bs than somebody who had 5 a's in GCSEs.

ibh

I seem to remember Brian McClair having a degree in something or other. That Norwegian guy that was a striker at Soton and then Rangers was doing a degree part time while playing. Ostenstad or something is his name.

To whoever said that footballers don't have time to study, i hope your tongue was planted in cheek, cause they have tons of free time, hence the propensity to spend the afternoon in a bookies or snooker hall. They have problems filling their day, it would do them no harm to study for something. Unfortunately their salaries are so high their is no incentive for them to study for a qualification that could serve them when they retire.
I think it is quite common for Scandanavian players to study for a Degree while they are playing.


I think that ex-players becoming pundits should be forced to study a Diploma in Sports Journalism before they get on tv talking sh'te.

Raskolnikov

Adrian Mutu has a law degree supposedly.

redout

K4t wrote: »

Don't know of any players who have academic qualifications but Arsene Wenger has a degree in economics. Probably why he's always so gloomy.

.

Think it is a Ph.D in Economics that he has and not just a common degree.

K4t

grames_bond wrote: »

everyone understands the country is in an economic crisis, its plastered all over the papers.....saying it doesn't really illustrate how intelligent he is. its not like he stated a fiscal plan to solve the crisis! :pac:

Sorry, I forgot the exclamation mark at the end of my post.

RefulgentGnomon wrote: »

Iain Dowie - masters in (mechanical) engineering!

Didn't see that one coming! :eek:

redout wrote: »

Think it is a Ph.D in Economics that he has and not just a common degree.

Yeah, I thought that too but wasn't sure. Intelligent guy.

Generally, the better/more creative the footballer, the fewer qualifications they'll have. Most of the greatest footballers have grown up in working class areas playing football on the streets instead of going to school.

I'd imagine more defenders/goalkeepers have qualifications than midfielders/strikers.

JoeA3

ibh wrote: »

I seem to remember Brian McClair having a degree in something or other.

I think you're right there... in fact, I vaguely remember reading somewhere that his nickname in the united dressing room was "Dictionary"

John O'Shea finished his leaving cert before going to United.

Ardscoil Ris

Niels Bohr. Played for AB in the 1920s. His brother played for the same club and was in the Danish national team. Bohr won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922 for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them.

His brother was also a mathematician.

Macker1

witnessmenow wrote: »

former liverpool nunez was a qualified lawyer iirc

Yes True but he couldn't kick snow off a rope thanks to his studies

An Citeog

eZe^ wrote: »

Isn't the Swiss language like a cocktail of 4 different languages, German, Italian, French and something else.

The 4th official language in Switzerland is Romansh but isn't really that widely spoken. It's a Romantic language, so wouldn't really have any similarities with German.

Adamcp898 wrote:

They have 4 official languages afaik but the main one is Swiss German, it's not exactly similar to german the same way as Austrian german isn't similar to german either but for whatever reason they're both called german

Although the accents are very different (particularly with Swiss German), they're still the same language. It's pretty much the same as American and British English.

Jam-Fly

Ardscoil Ris wrote: »

Niels Bohr. Played for AB in the 1920s. His brother played for the same club and was in the Danish national team. Bohr won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922 for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them.

His brother was also a mathematician.

Niels Bohr would have been 35 in 1920..


Wenger has a masters in econonomics, and also a degree in engineering. He speaks like 5 languages too, including some Japanese.

Jam-Fly

oh yeah,

Zidane has an IQ of 150 apparently! That's quite smart!

Pigman III

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Forgot about Oleguer.

Probably not good enough to play for Spain anyway, in all fairness.

Oleguer??? Or... The Artist Formally Known As "Prince"!?! (you know what I'm talking about)

Glen Whelan used to manage a Burger King somewhere, or so I believe, not entirely sure though!

anonymous_joe

Ardscoil Ris wrote: »

Niels Bohr. Played for AB in the 1920s. His brother played for the same club and was in the Danish national team. Bohr won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922 for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them.

His brother was also a mathematician.

I read that somewhere. Goldblatt's book was it?

Pigman III wrote: »

Oleguer??? Or... The Artist Formally Known As "Prince"!?! (you know what I'm talking about)

Glen Whelan used to manage a Burger King somewhere, or so I believe, not entirely sure though!

I don't know actually. :P

eZe^

Ardscoil Ris wrote: »

Niels Bohr. Played for AB in the 1920s. His brother played for the same club and was in the Danish national team. Bohr won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922 for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them.

His brother was also a mathematician.

That's awesome....

newballsplease

Jam-Fly wrote: »

oh yeah,

Zidane has an IQ of 150 apparently! That's quite smart!

yea he knows how to use his head!!

Pigman III

Boruc, Kuszczak & Dudek all have qualifications in I.T. and Computer Developement.

redout

Jam-Fly wrote: »

Niels Bohr would have been 35 in 1920..


Wenger has a masters in econonomics, and also a degree in engineering. He speaks like 5 languages too, including some Japanese.

Wiki says a masters but I think its incorrect. I am pretty sure he a PhD. There is a article from the guardian which mentions it here http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2000/oct/22/workandcareers.madeleinebunting

Seaneh

Mort. Volz (ipswitch, formerly arsenal and fullham) has a degree in chemistry and was studying for his masters while at fulham.

Theres no excuse for younger footballs not to be studying atleast part time, they only bloody work for 4 hours a day.

eZe^

Pigman III wrote: »

Boruc, Kuszczak & Dudek all have qualifications in I.T. and Computer Developement.

Pffft, all that proves is they watch too much tv, the amount of ads that promote getting an I.T certification by working from home mean that bored goal keepers will probably do a bit of work when they play the likes of Derby County.

Pigman III

eZe^ wrote: »

Pffft, all that proves is they watch too much tv, the amount of ads that promote getting an I.T certification by working from home mean that bored goal keepers will probably do a bit of work when they play the likes of Derby County.

No, you didn't get that! Polish hand workers, with qualifications in Computer Developement... (waits patiently for you to get it)

eZe^

Pigman III wrote: »

No, you didn't get that! Polish hand workers, with qualifications in Computer Developement... (waits patiently for you to get it)

Ah yesss, I geddit. Good un bruv.

Seaneh

http://volzy.com/

For this alone I think Volzy is the winnar of the I R SmRT thread.

An Citeog

Seaneh wrote: »

http://volzy.com/

For this alone I think Volzy is the winnar of the I R SmRT thread.

I was actually just about to post that link. Most footballer's websites are muck but that one's the best I've seen. Volzy!:pac:

Raskolnikov

Seaneh wrote: »

http://volzy.com/

For this alone I think Volzy is the winnar of the I R SmRT thread.

And if you see me on the streets of West London on my special folding bike, or driving through Ipswich on my tractor, be sure to give me a wave! All the best!

:eek:

Helix

the chaps meant to be an absolute legend