‘SCHOOL WAS NO.1 FOR DAD, NOT SOCCER’

DIDIER DROGBA was banned for a year before his playing career took off.

The Chelsea legend said his dad Albert stopped him from playing football when he was 16 so that the striker concentrated on his studies.

Drogba has gone on to set up a foundation that has raised huge amounts of money for his native Ivory Coast – opening his first school and the first mobile heart clinic to visit villages.

But Drogba, who joined his first club Le Mans when he was 20, said: “Being a pro footballer was not the same 25 years ago.

“My dad was like, ‘No, it’s not a secure job, you get injured and you lose everything’. But it was my passion. It became my job and now it’s different as there’s so much money in football that everyone is trying to push their kids.

“That’s why I started late. When I was not studying well, my dad would stop me from playing. For him, football was not as important as school.

“I had to be smart so the best way was to work well at school, please my dad and keep him happy.”