A former Brighton star has swapped the pitch for the train tracks.
Jake Robinson made 144 appearances for the Seagulls after coming through the club’s academy.
Jake Robinson has hang up his boots to become a train driver[/caption]
The former striker beat hundreds of applicants to the role at Southern[/caption]
Robinson made 144 appearances for Brighton[/caption]
He became Brighton’s youngest-ever goalscorer when he scored against Reading on the opening day of the 2004-05 Championship season aged just 16.
It is a record he still holds to this day and one he is very proud of.
Robinson, 38, scored 20 goals for his boyhood club including a hat-trick in just his second FA Cup appearance against Northwich Victoria.
He later joined Shrewsbury and played for Torquay and Northampton in the EFL before spending ten years in non-league, finishing his career at Worthing at the end of last season.
After hanging up his boots Robinson is now a trainee train driver, having been tipped for a job at train company Southern by his Dad, who saw a job advert go up while working at Brighton station.
Robinson once dreamed of playing for England and earning enough to retire on, and although his career did not pan out as hoped he is still proud of what he has accomplished.
He told BBC Radio Sussex: “The money never quite went to the level it needed to if that was to be my goal [to retire].
“I’m very proud of my career, I wouldn’t change it for the world. All I ever wanted to do was be a professional footballer, I’m lucky I lived out that dream.
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“Scored in every league from the Championship down to County One so that is a nice record I have.”
Now Robinson will be responsible for transporting fans to and from Brighton’s Amex, something he is eager to do despite the challenges of dealing with thousands of fans on train platforms.
Asked about taking fans to Brighton, he said: “I believe that is quite likely. Being based in Brighton that is one of my core routes.
“It would be like the story being complete for me. From training there as a kid to now my new career that will hopefully last the rest of my life is taking people there, dropping them off and picking them up again. So almost like full circle.”
