Some time ago, when the then Juvenile Unit #2 was still learning about football and foreign sounding names, we found ourselves watching Manchester United.
Quite innocently, she asks “Dad, is De Gea from Yorkshire?”.
“No. He’s Spanish”
“He looks like he’s from Yorkshire”.
I pondered this, and realised she had a point. Give that man a flat cap, a whippet and he could be on Emmerdale. He might fluff his lines or murder the accent (“Ole up”, etc) but he looked the part.
The question has never really left me, just as I will never forget her referring to the Kaiser Chiefs as the Kaiser Chefs, but it has inspired me to start this thread.
Which footballers or managers, past or present, look like they should be from somewhere else, or doing something else?
Did you first think “pipe fitter” when copping Colin Hendry? Am I the only one thinking “out on licence” when considering Steven Gerrard as non-footballer, or does Joey Barton (1960s gangster) think he’s a wrong’un too?
