Ex-premiere league player goes from earning £40k a month to £800 cleaning toilets

Life! From international football ace to ship cleaner. Former Sunderland player, Kevin Kyle, who used to earn £10,000-a-week playing for the premiere league team now earns £800-a-fortnight working a 12-hour shift on a ship stacking boxes & cleaning toilets. (pictured above left on the ship).

Kevin, 33, who started the job on board the 300-capacity ship on July 8th, said he had no choice but to take the job,

“I’m trying to provide for my family. Many footballers pick up jobs after football but I don’t see stories about them in the newspapers. I don’t really want to publicize my lifestyle in the newspapers about whether I have a job or don’t have a job. I have to work at some point to put food on the table and to provide for my family.” He said

The dad of 3 was jobless for 6 months after his contract with League One minnows Ayr United was scrapped in January.

Managers on the ship reportedly warned his new co-workers not to discuss Kevin's former life as a footballer or bring it up with him as it's a touchy subject.

"Kevin started work on the ship earlier this month. It’s sad really to see someone who was obviously well-loved by the fans seemingly ending his career relatively early." A source said

Kevin Kyle works on the Regina Baltic ship in Lerwick’s remote Mairs Quay. Pictured above taking a break in the ship's communal room.

His duties include cleaning floors and toilets, making beds and stocking up supplies on the ship.

Apart from Sunderland where he last played in 2006, Kevin also played for Coventry, Kilmarnock, Hearts, and Rangers.

In a 2010 newspaper interview he said:

“Sometimes in life money is not everything. I know a lot of people disagree with that but I had all the money years ago when I played with Sunderland and Coventry and I p***** it up a wall gambling. So money doesn’t always make you happy. The happiest I have been was the first year at Kilmarnock, playing football and knowing what my wage was.”

Culled