I’m a former professional footballer – I quit the game to do something totally different

A FORMER professional footballer has revealed how he quit the beautiful game to do something totally different.

Alan Comfort, 58, played between 1980 and 1989 before his career was cut short by injury and made 250 senior appearances.

The ex-pro is now treading a very different path and is preparing to take over as vicar at St Andrew’s Church in Rushmere, Ipswich.

He played for QPR, working under Terry Venables, Cambridge, Leyton Orient and Middlesbrough during his time as a footballer before becoming a priest in the Church of England.

After leaving the sport, Comfort spent 21 years as the club’s chaplain before leaving in 2014.

The footballer turned man-of-faith told the East Anglian Daily Times: “For the first 19, nearly 20 years of my life I never went to church.

“I never knew anybody that went, it was a Christian-free zone for me.

“It was only when I transferred to Cambridge that I met a Christian.”

Comfort met Graham Daniels, who played for the team at the time, and is a current director at Cambridge.

Alan continued: “He was known as the Christian at the club, and there were very few Christians in football at the time.

“I didn’t know what a Christian was, but I watched and listened to him and saw what it meant to him.

“He always seemed to be so vibrant and alive, and his teammates would laugh at him, as in any male environment at the time, and he just kept going.

“He knew that God had a plan for his life, and he knew God was with him and I found myself looking at him thinking, can this really be real?”

It was at that point that Mr Comfort wanted to go to church, so he drove around one Tuesday evening in Cambridge, looking for an open church.

He said: “I thought it was really going to mess my life up because I knew that there were things that would change and I relationships I hoped wouldn’t change.

“My parents for example wouldn’t necessarily take it very well, which they didn’t, and I knew other players would find it hard.

“I knew the manager would be difficult and he was, but I thought it was the best thing I could ever do and I have never looked back.”

The former winger is moving to Ipswich and taking over as the priest at St Andrew’s Church in Rushmere on April 17.

He said: “I am very excited to come here. We have lots of ideas and we come with a lot of enthusiasm.

“Chruch’s struggle to connect to younger people in the ways that they can, and I think we have come with the knowledge that if you do the right things, it can open worlds up for people and it can be such a good thing.

“It’s not for everybody, but it is a good thing, and if presented in the right way, we can find something really wonderful for everyone attending.”

The tricky winger scored 53 goals in 228 games during his time in the Football League.

Cult hero Comfort was also voted as Leyton Orient’s second greatest player of all time in 1999.

One of the best wingers who played for the club, he racked up 150 league matches and scored 48 goals.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk