BOBBY’S BETTER OFF WORKING
BOBBY BARR describes a crushing weight being lifted off his shoulders.
No more the annual worry of continuing work as a footballer, juggling the finances and seeking the next port of call in the career of a journeyman.
The 30-year-old former Raith Rovers winger’s decision to combine playing at Dumbarton with a job outside the game is, to use his own term, “a reality biter”.
As hundreds of players suffer the uncertainty of a scrapheap summer, Barr has opted out of the rat race after leaving Stark’s Park last month. And he insists it’s the start of a chapter of newfound security.
Barr said: “I decided to make a clean break from full-time football this summer when the chance arose to sign for Dumbarton.
“For the first time in years I now have a bit of forward planning and stability. Anyone who knows what it’s like to be a footballer in Scotland without a club during the summer will know what I’m talking about. “I know what boys are going through even though most people won’t understand it. “The mental pain of having no security every summer as the hunt starts again to try to stay in the game. “Sitting around waiting by the phone in June and July then having to go into clubs on trial is a side of the game nobody gets to see. There’s no glamour in not knowing where your next wage is coming from. You are worrying about whether you have a job. “I was fortunate last summer at Raith that I had another year on my deal but you can never look long term if you’re a footballer. “PFA Scotland are attempting to change the contract system so that rather than having a nine-month deal, players get 12 months on their contract.
“So it helps cushion the blow if you’re released by a club. The sooner that happens the better.
“I’m about to get my first real job outside of football and a few of the Dumbarton boys are in the same boat.
“It makes a change from having to hunt about for a club which is now an annual nightmare for so many players.
“Financially I will be far better off than I have ever been as I will effectively have two employers.
“I’ll be working nightshift but I’ll soon get the hang of that.
“I’m managing to get my head around working, getting into a routine and combining it with my football.”
Barr believes there’s an argument to be made for Scottish football shrinking its professional set-up to create scope for clubs to settle for semipro status.
He also insists his time at the likes of Livingston and St Johnstone haven’t set him up for life.
Barr said: “There’s a false reality for people looking in at professional football as all of the players tend to be placed in the same category. “The truth is plumbers, joiners and tradesmen earn far more money than the majority of players in Scotland. So the perception of us being big earners just isn’t true.
“If you’re a full-time player then the hours you do compared to a normal job are brilliant. But there are so many negatives as well as positives compared to the average job.”
Dumbarton return to action this afternoon when they travel to face Lowland League side East Kilbride. And Barr is delighted to be part of a squad full of players who had faced life on the football breadline.
He added: “The majority of boys at Dumbarton have day jobs where they work before coming in a few nights a week to train.
“I’ve spoken to so many players in the game who have played in the Championship for the majority of their careers and it can be a struggle to make ends meet.
“None of us are millionaires who are able to spend retirement lying on a beach. We all need to work to pay the mortgage.
“There comes a time to make a decision and this summer I’ve opted to go part-time.
“It’s the best move for me both for football and now with my work.
“I was talking to my new team-mate Craig Barr and he said he was in exactly the same position last summer.
“He’s now earned qualifications and has started work in an office. “It’s a huge weight off my mind as I know plenty of players who reach the age of 35 and have nothing to fall back on.
“More and more boys are looking at what opportunities are outside the game now as full-time football isn’t the be all and end.
“Sometimes security matters more and I now have that at Dumbarton.”
BOBBY BARR