When footballers decide to hang up their boots, there are a number of exciting career avenues that they can turn to.
Some choose to go into the managerial and coaching game, while others veer off to punditry on the likes of Sky Sports, BT and the BBC - while others end up presenting popular TV programmes, like Dion Dublin did with Homes Under the Hammer.
However, it's less commonplace that professionals trade the wing of the pitch for the wings of an aeroplane.
Read more: City break destinations to fly to with Jet2, Ryanair, EasyJet from Newcastle in 2022
But The Daily Star reports that is exactly what former Premier League Middlesbrough midfielder Richard Kell did, when he decided to call it a day after 10 years in the beautiful game. Kell, who also had stints with Torquay, Barnsley, Lincoln and Scunthorpe had a premature end to his promising career aged 27, after suffering a brutal double leg break.
Scunthorpe manager Brian Laws, said at the time: "The injury has destroyed the day. I am gutted to have lost such a talented player."
While recovering from said injury between 2001 and 2004, Kell had a sudden change of heart over where he wanted to take his life - with a chat with a pilot while his squad prepared to jet off for a pre-season tour inspiring him to a completely different world of possibilities.
Speaking of the exchange in 2016, Kell said: "On my return, I went to my nearest airport [Humberside] to make my initial enquiries. I had completed about 10-15 hours training, however my fitness returned, I signed a new contract and my pilots training was put on the ‘back burner' for a time.
"Football gave me interpersonal skills. Being confined within the ‘tin box’ of a cockpit at 35,000 feet means that I must be appreciative of my co-pilots and other crew, who I have to interact with. Finally, I was a fairly technical player so my overall touch and hand/ eye coordination is a great attribute to have as a pilot, helping me instinctively know when to apply power and rudder."
Kell, has since went on to obtain a commercial pilot's license, and now works full time for Jet2 at Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA). However, the former midfielder has insisted that it was not easy feat, assuring others that becoming a pilot is just as tough as trying to make it as a footballer.
He added: "My chosen career was every bit as hard to get into as football and can be equally as competitive. However, if I had failed to gain my commercial pilot license I could still have gone and done something more mainstream and familiar.
"I didn’t want any niggling doubts or ‘what ifs’ later in life."
Be sure to listen out for Richard on the cabin crew tannoy should you be flying abroad with Jet2 this summer!
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