I don't Know if this has been Posted here or not

When you tell a footballer to make a wall you're normally talking about defending a free-kick, but players from Barnsley and Rotherham United are doing it the bricks and mortar way.

Twenty of their players have enrolled at Doncaster College, some on bricklaying courses, while others are learning plumbing.

Cue plenty of jokes about leaky defences, but this is a serious effort by the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) to try and make sure players have a trade to fall back on when life in the beautiful game ends.

The 10 week course is paid for by the PFA and also includes the basics on health and safety, electrical engineering, plastering and joinery.

Barnsley goalkeeper Luke Steele is only 25 years old but knows his career could end tomorrow.

"We were approached by the PFA about the course and we all jumped at the chance," said Steele.

"It gives us some very useful skills for around the house more than anything and it also gives us a good chance to bond as a team after training.

"It also gives us a taste of another career just in case the worst happens and we get bad injuries."

The students at the college are getting used to seeing the likes of Andy Gray and Rob Kozluk walking to class, and the players are getting used to the good natured abuse from the Doncaster Rovers fans studying there.

Paul Davies, Doncaster College's assistant director of the Academy of Advanced Technologies, said: "The lads have been brilliant, their paying attention and their skills are coming on."

PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor added that the short nature of a footballer's career makes it imperative that they are prepared for life outside the sport.

"The average career of a footballer is eight years," Taylor told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"On average, 600 males join Premier and Football League clubs every year, from the age of 16. 500 of those will be out of the game by the age of 21 and about 50 to 60 players a year are forced to quit the game because of permanent injuries.

"The fact is, most footballers are on the average wage. It isn't all champagne and millionaires.

"We look to accommodate players as best we can, from deep sea diving courses, media awareness, to plastering.

"We have to make sure that players realise that there is life after football."

 

Milan were lucky last night, can't believe Roma didn't get a point at least nt

 

RE: Milan were lucky last night, can't believe Roma didn't get a point at least nt

pffft if Thiago had hit his backpass abit harder Menez wouldnt have been in, we outplayed them in the second half easily, Seedorf hitting the post,2 goals we had,Pippo tackling Burdisso and running through was not a foul, easy