Nolan: Pros playing an amateur game

DUBLIN football defender Kevin Nolan says he and his team-mates train as hard as Premier League footballers.

The Kilmacud Crokes man could have been a professional footballer in England and had an offer to try his luck in Australian Rules Football too, but ultimately decided instead to pursue a career in teaching and fulfil his ambition to play football for the Dubs.

“I was on soccer trials over in Blackburn and Leicester and I saw all that side of professional sport. Looking at the Dublin set-up, we’re an amateur sport but it’s just as professional a set-up,” he said.