Jim Goodwin may be splashing the cash at Aberdeen, but he knows the value of money after cutting his teeth in the real world.
The Pittodrie boss has been well backed by chairman Dave Cormack as he set about reshaping the Dons squad following a dismal campaign last season. £1.3million has been spent on new faces so far this summer. Bojan Miovski is the most expensive at £530,000, while Luis ‘Duk” Lopes was a £400,000 acquisition from Benfica. Jayden Richardson, Ylber Ramadani and Cal Roberts were all signed for six figure fees as well.
Calvin Ramsay ’s big move to Liverpool boosted the coffers, no doubt. But the spend still dwarfs anything else laid out by other Premiership clubs outside of Celtic and Rangers. But Goodwin will never take it for granted after a a playing career that saw him play at the highest level in Scotland, but hardly set the Irishman up for life.
“Unfortunately, I never played at the highest level,” Goodwin said. “People think because you played for St Mirren for five years in the Premier League you must be a millionaire. That’s not the way it works unfortunately. I’ve had a decent career and earned a decent living but nowhere near enough to put my feet up at 34 when St Mirren decided I wasn’t good enough to play in the Premier League any more. I had a number of different jobs in the real world as I call it, because believe me football isn’t the real world.”
His favourite was as a delivery driver for Cadbury’s chocolate “The job in the van was probably my favourite,” Goodwin says. “I’m always reluctant to talk about it because people go, ‘Oh, poor you’ but it’s not about that. I loved it. It was an eye- opener. You do what you have to do to earn a living and that’s what it was about for me. I’ve never been afraid to get stuck in and muck in. If family members are building houses or doing bits and bobs around the place I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty.
“I never had much of an education. I left school at 15 and the one major regret I have is that I didn’t utilise my time better between 15 and 20 when I was at Celtic (he came through their youth system and made one first-team appearance in 2000). I was going home at 2pm, twiddling my thumbs and watching movies and playing bloody PlayStation or going into town with the lads. I wish I had stuck in.”
Goodwin takes an interest in the wider world outside of football, and like many is dismayed at the cost of living crisis enveloping the country: “I just think there is a lot of social inequality and I can’t stand by and watch that,” he told The Times. “I do get caught up in it. I read a lot of stuff online, I watch Question Time , I like to be up to date with what’s going on in the world.
“It’s a touchy subject, isn’t it, when you talk politics, but we’re all entitled to care about other people. The majority of my friends and family are very working-class people. I just think there is a real social injustice at the moment. The rich are getting too rich and the poor are really struggling. How do we make society a fairer place for everyone?”
"That’s the challenge these politicians have got. Every party, regardless of whether you’re a Labour man or a Tory man or a nationalist, every politician out there needs to do more. They talk the talk but there aren’t too many of them fulfilling the promises that got them into office. It frustrates me when it’s almost accepted that these politicians just lie and we just accept it.
“There are just too many people struggling, man. I’m really lucky to be earning what I’m earning but I genuinely do know what it’s like to not have a lot of money because I’ve been there. People talk about mental health. Not having enough money to pay the bills is probably one of the biggest causes of anxiety for a lot of people because how do you escape it? Listen, we could talk for hours on it. We’d be better talking about it over a few pints because I get awful worked up about it.”
It's also one of the reason Goodwin makes sure he acknowledges the Aberdeen fans after every game. He added: . “With the way things are financially a lot of people are going through difficult times and we are well aware of that.”
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