Drug shame Livi boss: Uni turned my life around
Footie gaffer opens up on jail hell & education
FOOTBALL boss David Martindale says going back to university helped him turn his life around after being jailed for drugs offences.
But the reformed Livingston manager instisted his background has helped make him a better football club manager.
He relived the “worst day” of his life when he was arrested back in April 2004, spent four days lying in a police cell, then his time on bail and prison.
He said: “The one I go back to is actions and consequences. For me, that’s the big one.
“If you can get that ingrained in your head, you’re going to make more correct decisions and you make the wrong decisions more positive than negative.
“Education’s massive, I think, I never realised somebody like me could go to university,
“I always thought it was just rich people that went to university, so education is a way out.
“Hard work and honesty will take you a long way in life.
“It might take you a wee bit longer to get to where you want to be than maybe jumping on the bandwagon and getting involved in drugs, or theft or whatever criminality is, but there is a way out the scheme other than criminality.”
He said his life changed when he was arrested, adding: “Did prison change me? No.
“But I think it made me a lot more humble and it showed me that money and materialistic things were not as important as they were when I went into prison. There was a lot less fortunate people than me in prison and it opened my eyes to how quick life can change and money isn’t everything in life.
“Family became much more important at that point in my life.
“They were now the primary reason I wanted out of prison. And everything I do going forward now, I make decisions based on, what’s the impact of that on my family?” Martindale believes poverty and education can have a big impact on young people and says completing his honours degree in construction project management at Heriot Watt university helped him continue on his new path.
He added: “A lot of it stems from poverty and a lot of it stems from education and actually educating people there is another path.”