Former Manchester United midfielder Philip Mulryne has explained why he turned his back on the lavish footballer's lifestyle to become a Catholic priest.
The former Northern Ireland international was a product of the United youth academy and made his debut under Sir Alex Ferguson in 1997.
He was part of United's 1995 FA Youth Cup winning side with Phil Neville, but made just five senior appearances in five years at Old Trafford before moving to Norwich City in 1999, where he played 135 time for the Canaries in a six-year spell.
After short spells at Cardiff City and Leyton Orient, Mulryne officially retired from football in 2009 and later entered the Diocesan Seminary of St Malachy's in Belfast.
The 39-year-old was ordained as a Catholic priest in July this year and joined the chaplaincy team at Newbridge College having been assigned to the Dominican priory in the Kildare town.
Despite once earning £600,000-a-year and dating model Nicole Chapman, Mulryne was not getting the fulfilment he wanted from the glamorous life of a Premier League footballer.
Speaking to The Times, he said:
The former Northern Ireland international was a product of the United youth academy and made his debut under Sir Alex Ferguson in 1997.
He was part of United's 1995 FA Youth Cup winning side with Phil Neville, but made just five senior appearances in five years at Old Trafford before moving to Norwich City in 1999, where he played 135 time for the Canaries in a six-year spell.
After short spells at Cardiff City and Leyton Orient, Mulryne officially retired from football in 2009 and later entered the Diocesan Seminary of St Malachy's in Belfast.
The 39-year-old was ordained as a Catholic priest in July this year and joined the chaplaincy team at Newbridge College having been assigned to the Dominican priory in the Kildare town.
Despite once earning £600,000-a-year and dating model Nicole Chapman, Mulryne was not getting the fulfilment he wanted from the glamorous life of a Premier League footballer.
Speaking to The Times, he said:
I didn't like the trappings of being a footballer - the money, the nightclubs and the attention of women.
While that was fine for a while, when I got to my late 20s I started to feel really dissatisfied.
I loved the game, loved the training. The lifestyle was bringing me pleasure but nothing lasting.
I was buying three or four cars a year because I was getting bored and always wanting more. It was the same with clothes and houses.
I started asking myself, "Why am I doing this?" And, basically, the answer was that nothing was ever enough. I was constantly restless, born out of the fact that I thought this way of life was meant to make me happy.
