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Vincent Kompany recently marked his 10th anniversary at Manchester City, a laudable feat. In the course of the last decade, the defending maestro has had only three own goals and only three red cards. He's been an ever-present brick wall for the Citizens, and he's basically set his name in stone at Etihad.
To join the Citizens celebrating him, here are three quick facts about the Belgian strongman that you probably didn't know.
1) Kompany started and shut down two sport bars
Yes, you read that right. In April 2014, Vincent Kompany opened two new sports bars in Brussels and Antwerp (both in Belgium) with the name: Good Kompany. The idea, it is reported, behind venturing into the hospitality industry was to bring people together to watch sporting events.
Kompany is quoted to have said, “This kind of big events bring people together. I like this kind of unifying factor”.
Within a year, he shut both bars down, saying, "I regret this decision. We had enough customers, turnover was good, but not enough to cover the costs. So that's where it ends. Lesson 1 in business: investments are always a risk. You win some, you lose some."
2) Kompany Graduated With an MBA
Gaining a degree as a footballer, especially a professional one, is a rare occurrence. Vincent Kompany did just that. Earlier this year, he graduated with an MBA from the Manchester Business School after a number of years of study. Guess he really wanted to know why those sports bars didn't work out. With that degree, he's most likely already figured it out.
He was awarded a merit grade and achieved a distinction on his dissertation project, which looked at how professional football clubs in the Premier League can benefit from home game advantage and achieve game-changing levels of improvement.
Looks like he's staying in football after he retires!
3) He bought his hometown club.
In 2013, Vincent Kompany bought his hometown club (FC Bleid) in Belgium that had been in financial difficulties for some years. His aim for the club's future was offering opportunities to local kids to keep them from a life of crime. He says it was football that kept him from the wrong crowd when he was younger, and it's great that he's helping youths fight the same fight he knew too well.
The club has since been renamed BX Brussels, plays in the Regional 4th Division, and is run by his sister who is the Chief Operating Officer.
