Being a footballer - it is just a job

Kevin Thomson played for Hibernian, Rangers, Middlesbrough and Dundee and has represented Scotland. He began his career with Hibernian before joining Rangers in 2007 for a £2m transfer fee. Middlesbrough signed Thomson for a fee of £2m in July 2010.

At 14-years of age, Thomson thought about jacking in football altogether after he earned a move to Coventry City. "Things didn't work out for me at Coventry," he recalls. "I felt I had a real chance to make it, but I hated it. It was such a hard environment for a young boy being away from home…When I came back up the road I'd lost my love for the game and felt being around my mates was more important. I had three or four months when I wasn't interested in football. I enjoyed the freedom of playing with my mates with no pressure," he says. "At that point, I wasn't interested in being a professional footballer."

Upon making his life-changing move to Rangers, Thomson was roundly derided by the Hibs faithful for selling his soul to the devil. However, while acknowledging their reasons for feeling betrayed, Thomson insists supporters need to understand that footballers are like everyone else in the sense that when money talks, you've got to listen. 

"Fans will only have read bits and pieces about what went on, so I understand why a lot of them dislike me. If I was a Hibs fan paying my money and a player signed for Rangers I would want them to fail as well, so I totally understand the fans' point of view. But I think all fans need to realise that in any walk of life if you can get ten times your salary elsewhere, then there's no way you'll stay where you are. The argument that a footballer shouldn't be influenced by money is just stupid. If you are offered better money and better opportunities elsewhere, why are you going to stay at a club just because you support them? I know there's a lot of Hibs fans that would say they'd play for Hibs for nothing, but let's not beat about the bush - for footballers it's a job first and foremost…If you've no desire to go from Hibs to a bigger club and then another bigger club, what's the point of playing football?”

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/kevin-thomson-i-ve-never-lost-my-love-for-hibs-1-1702268