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While every player hopes to thrive in the razzmatazz of the football world, not everyone is successful in doing so. The beautiful game is replete with classic rags-to-riches stories, especially of players who went on to play for some of the biggest clubs in Europe.
But many players plying their trade below the first division have alternate jobs, as they do not make enough money from playing the game. That is especially true of most players in the second or third tiers of professional football or ones playing non-league football.
There have been several instances of players who have had alternate jobs before they rose up the ranks and tasted success at the top. On that note, let's take a look at five such players, in no particular order:
#5 Charlie Austin (Bricklayer)
Charlie Austin started his career in non-league football in 2006 before moving up the tiers of English football and turning professional three years later.
Before then-Championship side Swindon came calling for his services, Austin was a bricklayer, laying bricks for a living. However, life changed for the better for the then 20-year-old.
The striker went on to play in the English Premier League (with Queens Park Rangers, Southampton and West Bromwich Albion). He was also on the cusp of making his England debut, but that didn't materialize.
Nevertheless, it has been quite a journey for the now 31-year-old, who had said after turning professional:
"People ask me: 'Can you explain how you have done it?' But I can't explain it," he says. "I can explain what I'm feeling but I can't explain what has happened. To come from where I have been, to now talk of England ... what can you say? It's unbelievable."
#4 Iain Dowie (Rocket Scientist)
Unlike the other players on this list, Iain Dowie didn't exactly struggle to make ends meet at the start of his professional career. That's because the 90s striker, who racked up over 300 league appearances across various tiers of English football, was a missile scientist.
The now 54-year-old, who began his playing career in non-league football, was sought after by the likes of Chelsea and Sheffield United. He 'rejected' a move to Sheffield as he was offered less than what he was earning from his job as a missile engineer.
Dowie later said in this regard in the Quickly Kevin, Will He Score? podcast:
“Chelsea, Doncaster, Sheffield United and Luton wanted to sign me. It was a case of ‘what do I do?’. Harry Bassett (Sheffield United manager) offered less than what I was being paid at work. I was a missile engineer. I did engineering and did a Masters in mechanical, so that was what I stumbled into."
#3 Peter Schmeichel (Cleaner)
Peter Schmeichel, the goalkeeper in Manchester United's historic treble-winning team in 1999, is widely regarded as one of the best custodians to have graced the Premier League.
But long before he had turned professional, Schmeichel did odd jobs like working at a factory, cleaning older people's homes and a stint with the World Wildlife Fund to make ends meet.
The legendary goalkeeper's first footballing 'job' was with a team called Hvidovre in his native Denmark in 1984.
He subsequently played for Brondby, one of the top teams in his country, before English giants Manchester United came calling for his services in 1991. And there would be no looking back from there.
In a deal termed the 'bargain of the century' by legendary United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, Schmeichel won five Premier League titles, three FA Cups and one Champions League at the club.
#2 Miroslav Klose (Carpenter)
Miroslav Klose is the all-time top-scorer in World Cup history and has scored the most goals for Germany in international football.
In a storied career for club and country, the 42-year-old won most of the major competitions he played in. But Klose underwent training as an apprentice carpenter before making his professional debut in 1998.
Klose, who moved from Poland to Germany at the age of eight, did not speak a word in German. He was also unsure of a career in football, as neighborhood boys refused to play with him.
A 16-year-old Klose had passed his carpentry exam to become a 'journeyman', but life had other plans in store for him.
For a while, Klose juggled between carpentry and playing for his first club, SG Blaubach-Diedelkopf. Soon, he gave up the former and devoted himself full time to football. The rest, as they say, is history.
Klose later spoke about his early days:
"After a few months as a Journeyman, I was transferred to Homburg and from then on it was just football."
#1 Jamie Vardy (Factory worker)
Leicester City scripted one of the most improbable league triumphs in the game's history when they won the 2015-16 Premier League title.
The win was all the more impressive as Claudio Ranieri's men, who were ranked 5000-1 outsiders to win the competition at the start of the season, barely managed to escape relegation the previous campaign.
The Foxes' win was scripted by an unlikely protagonist, Jamie Vardy, who scored 24 league goals.
Vardy, who was rejected by Sheffield United as a 16-year-old, used to work at a carbon fiber factory during the day and play non-league football with Halifax Town at night to make ends meet. The 34-year-old said about those days:
“I worked as a carbon fiber technician. My work included the workers who made supporting tools for people with fractures. We worked hard and continued to lift items hundreds of times a day. The job really damaged my back. During the day I worked for hours then played football at night.”
He moved on to Fleetwood, where his goalscoring exploits caught the attention of then-Championship side Leicester City.
The Foxes dished out £1 million - a record sum for a non-league player - in 2012 to land Vardy. What transpired next is the stuff dreams are made of.
After helping Leicester City win the 2013-14 Championship to gain promotion to the top tier, Vardy landed a bigger prize two years later when he became a Premier League champion.
