10 Footballers Who Hated Football
7. Espen Baardsen
As a Norwegian international who plied his trade in the Premier League, one would assume that former Tottenham goalkeeper Espen Baardsen had fulfilled his boyhood ambitions by making a living playing football, but it wasn't the case.
In interviews since his retirement in 2003 aged just 25, Baardsen has spoken about his time in the beautiful game as more of a hindrance than the pinnacle of his professional career, explaining that the life of a footballer isn't as perfect as most assume.
After becoming disillusioned with the game, Baardsen got a degree at the Open University and moved into the world of business, and has since gone on to work as a fund manager. While many of his former colleagues are doing sports punditry, Baardsen has also taken his expertise to television, but instead of being featured on Sky Sports, he can instead be reguarly seen on the American business news channel CNBC.