Andy nearly swapped his courts for pitches

Murray reveals how he had to choose between football or tennis

Andy Murray has revealed how a choice he made aged 14 took him away from a possible football career.

Having played for his local boys’ club, he has told how he was offered the chance to train with Rangers – but turned it down.

Football was in his family, as the world number one tennis star said his whole family became Hibs supporters because his grandfather Roy Erskine had turned out for the Edinburgh club in the 1950s.

Murray, 30, enjoyed regular family outings to Easter Road stadium as a child but said the cheers whenever Hibs scored a goal caused him to cry.

“It was too loud for me,” he admitted. “That’s not the case any more. I wouldn’t cry now watching football.”

Murray said following Hibs had been useful in life as it taught him to “get used to losing” but also the joy of winning.

Dunblane ace Murray starred for his local boys’ club Gairdoch United but decided to focus on tennis instead in his teens.

He said: “When I was about 14, I was supposed to be going over to Tampa in the States to train for four weeks and also to check out an academy there that I was potentially going to move to.

“The day beforehand I was playing a game for my local team and someone stood on my ankle and I didn’t get to play tennis or football for six weeks.

“That was when I spoke to my parents and it was really ‘no more, you have to choose between the two. If you want to start playing tennis more seriously you can’t be getting injured playing in other sports’.”

Murray was a striker, saying being bigger than a lot of the boys he was playing alongside was a help.

The tennis star also revealed how he turned down Rangers at the age of 14.

He added: “The local team that I played for were like a feeder team for Rangers so we went and did a training session in front of some of the Rangers scouts, people who were working at the school of excellence.

“After the training session my parents got asked if I would like to go along to train. But that was also around the time where I was having to decide ‘what do I do?’ I couldn’t go and do that and also try to play tennis.”

That was when I spoke to my parents and it was ‘no more, you have to choose between the two’

Picture above: PA. Andy Murray with wife Kim. He has revealed how a football career almost beckoned him in his teens. Below: having a kickabout with Jamie while sporting his beloved Hibs strip.