ALBAWABA – While many have made careers for themselves out of these jobs, most would now consider them unconventional professions for famous footballers.
Today, they are world-famous footballers with fortunes worth millions, rarely in need of another job to maintain their finances, but that was not always the case.
Many famous stars were forced to do something else, alongside their passion for football, to make a decent living.
Here are 10 famous players today and their unconventional professions before they became football superstar.
Unconventional professions: Ian Wright was a pop singer
Ian Wright was a key member of the Crystal Palace pop group, while playing with Arsenal football club in the 1980s and 1990s. He also had a successful career going for him as a television personality in the United Kingdom.
Unconventional professions: Ian Wright was a pop singer - Shutterstock
Ian Wright, who held the record for Arsenal, scoring 185 goals, until Thierry Henry broke it, also wrote a song. It was the only song he wrote in his small successful career, and it was called "Do the Right Thing".
Unconventional professions: Nigel De Jong owned a car dealership
Dutch midfielder Nigel De Jong, who has a passion for all things four-wheeled, built a lucrative car dealership, operating in the EU and Eastern Europe. It is fair to say that De Jong did the “right thing”.
Unconventional professions: Nigel De Jong owned a car dealership - Shutterstock
His showroom encompassed a variety of vehicular spectacles, including Lamborghini Aventador, Maserati and Ferrari, among other prestigious car brands.
Unconventional professions: Peter Schmeichel was a cleaner
Before achieving success, former footballer Peter Schmeichel used his skills in various jobs, including most famously as a cleaner in a nursing home.
Unconventional professions: Peter Schmeichel was a cleaner - Shutterstock
Before joining Manchester United in 1991, the goalkeeper was an apprentice carpet fitter, sold newspaper advertising and ran a World Wildlife Fun charity shop.
Unconventional professions: Jamie Vardy worked at a factory
Jamie Vardy rose to prominence after winning the English Premier League and becoming a key player in the English national team.
Unconventional professions: Jamie Vardy worked at a factory - Shutterstock
However, his journey began when he was rejected by Sheffield Wednesday when he was 16. Then on, he worked a full-time job in a splint-making factory for people with feet problems. All while playing off-league for GBP 30 per week.
Unconventional professions: Papis Cisse was an ambulance driver
As a teenager driving an ambulance in his native Senegal, Former Newcastle player Papiss Cisse revealed in an interview with BBC's Late Kick Off. He witnessed some traumatic scenes before his career kicked off at AS Generation Foot in Dakar.
Unconventional professions: Papis Cisse was an ambulance driver - Shutterstock
Unconventional professions: Clint Dempsey was a rapper
Dempsey is best known as one of the most famous Major League football players of all time. But he had other lesser-known accomplishments.
Unconventional professions: Clint Dempsey was a rapper - Shutterstock
He actually signed up with Nike in 2006 for the upcoming World Cup releases, where his "Don't Tread" rap video was released.
This was his first time performing as his rap alter ego "Deuce" alongside Houston rappers Big Hawk and XO.
Unconventional professions: Eric Cantona became an actor
Eric Cantona, the English Premier League's foreign superstar, has dazzled and shocked football fans with his skills and his preposterous bouts of comic violence.
Unconventional professions: Eric Cantona became an actor - Shutterstock
Cantona eventually grew tired of the restrictions on footballers off the field and retired at the age of 30 to become a full-time actor.
Unconventional professions: Daniel Agger became a tattoo artist
Daniel Agger, a former Liverpool FC footballer, became a tattoo artist, after retiring from football in 2016 with Danish club Brøndby.
Unconventional professions: Daniel Agger became a tattoo artist - Shutterstock
The 36-year-old spent most of his career years with the Reds despite only playing with two clubs throughout his entire career. He was with them for eight seasons.
He became a tattoo advocate and, now, he is a member of Tattoodo, one of the world's largest tattoo fraternities.
Unconventional professions: Stuart Pearce an electrician
Kance Byrne, a former footballer, is one of the greatest left-back players in England, as he participated in more than 700 matches against in the league, staring with teams such as Coventry City, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City.
Unconventional professions: Stuart Pearce an electrician - Shutterstock
Pierce previously worked as an electrician. After his services were advertised in the Nottingham Forest programme, he was asked to undertake commercial work by Brian Clough, the manager at the time.
Unconventional professions: Gheorghe Popescu was an informant
Popescu, a former footballer, was the shining light of the great Romanian national team in the 1990s. He won heaps of titles with some of Europe's top clubs such as Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven, Galatasaray and Tottenham Hotspur and made more than 100 international appearances.
Unconventional professions: Gheorghe Popescu was an informant - Shutterstock
Popescu worked as an informant for the Eurotepe Securitate secret police force in the 1980s. It appeared that the Securitate was trying to bring down Steaua Bucharest. Because of his past as an operative, it is said that Popescu had various clashes along his career.
