Learn A Trade Urges Captain Artell

Part-time captain David Artell says young footballers should be looking to life beyond football before it's too late.

The 30 year old came away with a degree in Forensic Biology last summer and is currently doing his Masters as he plans for his future once his playing days are over.

It's something, Artell says, that young footballers should all be doing, with their current career taking them to 35 - if they're lucky. He told BBC Radio Stoke;

'That's what football is, a second career. You've got that till you're 35, if you're lucky, and then after that you've got another 35 years - so it's a big chunk of your working life.

'Perhaps the Premiership players can retire but the likes of myself and other league players are nowhere near retirement. If I don't get paid next month then my mortgage doesn't get paid, much like the next fella down the road.

'One thing that football does give you is the chance to further yourself in the afternoon because we get back from training at 2, 3 o'clock.

'I keep telling the young lads what they need to be doing, whether it be a 12 week course learning to be a joiner or a plumber or something more academic.

'They could be the best player in that changing room but then they could break their leg in the morning - look at what happened to Dean Ashton.

'I think with most of them it goes in one ear and out the other but that's probably because there's nothing to stop it.'

Artell's future career path is a slightly odd choice for a 'bruising League Two centre back' but he admits that he only took to the idea after watching daytime TV!

'You'd tune in to Cracker or Prime Suspect and I thought, 'I could do that.'

'It was just that, Dick Van Dyke in the afternoon - 'he looks good' - and I know it sounds a bit shallow but it did just come from watching afternoon tele and it was fashionable at the time.

'I thought 'why not?''

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