Footballers urged to plan for future

Footballers must improve their education along with their ball skills

Professional footballers are being encouraged to plan for life away from the pitch through a new initiative being launched in Scotland.

Learn Direct Scotland's Learning in Football scheme is designed to stimulate footballers into improving their other skills such as education and self-confidence.

It aims to make them more attractive to potential employers when they have to leave their profession.

The launch of the project, which has the backing of the Scottish Football Association, coincides with the start of the new football season which gets underway this weekend.

Those behind the project say that, contrary to popular belief, very few footballers earn enough during their playing careers to keep them going for the rest of their lives.

They also want to highlight the fact that many players are currently being released by their clubs because of economies in the industry.

Several clubs involved

It is hoped that other young men will be attracted to self-improvement if their footballing heroes take an interest in it.

The project will focus initially on players, with non-players invited to come on board as the pilot progresses.

A number of football clubs, including Falkirk, Airdrie, Partick Thistle and St Mirren, have agreed to take a lead in developing the initiative, actively promoting lifelong learning amongst their employees.

We have put in place mechanisms to allow existing professional footballers to find opportunities to learn in their clubs Frank Pignatelli Learn Direct chief executive

Other clubs are investigating ways in which they can develop the learning agenda, including the development of community access to learning.

Learn Direct Scotland chief executive Frank Pignatelli said that their post-football career was usually the last thing on players' minds.

"We have put in place mechanisms to allow existing professional footballers to find opportunities to learn in their clubs," he told BBC Scotland.

He said a number of sides had set up their own learning centres.

Mr Pignatelli also pointed out that a third of Scotland's professional footballers were out of contract at the end of last season.

"A lot of those young footballers will not have anything in place.

Successful career

"We are hoping that we will be able to encourage them to come into the learning centres," he said.

Sport Minister Frank MacAveety said: "For the few professional footballers in the game today who enjoy financial security for life, learning and developing skills outside football is not a primary concern during or after their career ends.

"However, for the vast majority of professional footballers, the story is very different. They must move on after their playing careers end and find a new career path."

Peter Cormack Jnr is one of those who have been able to forge a successful career outwith football.

The former Newcastle and Morton player is now a financial planning manager with the Royal Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Broken leg

He undertook an HND in business management while a Morton player under a scheme launched by James Watt College - which was sponsoring the Greenock club at that time.

However, he admitted that education had been the last thing on his mind at the start of his career.

Mr Cormack said he tasted "a little bit of realism" after suffering a series of bad injuries, including a broken leg and a cruciate ligament problem.

"I turned 22 and thought to myself that I was probably not going to be good enough to make the international class and make enough money to retire at the age of 35," he said.

"It was a case of being real with myself."