Aiming high ...
Richard Kell had sky-high ambitions after retiring from professional football and his career has really taken off since he landed a job as an airline pilot.
While many boys grow up dreaming of becoming a footballer or a pilot, the former Scunthorpe midfielder is in a small minority who have both on their CV as he is now flying high with Jet2.com.
Richard spent much of his playing days at Scunthorpe but two broken legs hampered his progress and soon after leaving Barnsley to join Lincoln in December 2006, he was forced to hang up his boots. Richard opted against staying in football and instead decided to fulfil his ambition of becoming an airline pilot, having already started flying during his time at Scunthorpe.
After receiving a lump sum from the PFA following his premature retirement and also receiving an educational grant from them to help fund his aviation courses, Richard was determined to put the money to good use.
The 33-year-old says: “When I retired I put all my money into finishing my private licence off and going from one thing to the next; commercial licence, ground school etc.
“After I retired I received some insurance money and I thought I would never lay my hands on that sort of cash again so, rather than put an extension on my house or something like that, I thought ‘this is my career so let’s do something with it’.
“Aviation will last you up until you’re 60-65 years old so it’s a long-term investment. Footballers can get funnelled down the path of coaching or management but there is a lot more out there and it’s worked out really well for me.”
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