Former Altrincham striker Duncan Watmore today joined the exclusive band of professional footballers to possess a first-class honours degree.
The 21-year-old picked up his economics and business management degree in a graduation ceremony at Newcastle University.
He had started the three-year course at Manchester University while still on the books at Moss Lane, switching to the North East after being signed by Sunderland in May 2013.
He’s continued to juggle training sessions with lectures and Watmore said the degree had involved “a lot of hard work”.
He said: “It’s a really nice feeling. It has been a lot of hard work in the past three years. It is good to get it done.
Watch Watmore pick up his degree certificate:
“You have to sacrifice a lot with football but that was something I was more than willing to do because football was my ultimate aim and the degree was something I just wanted to do in the evening to catch up at night.
“It was not the typical student life. I missed out on a few things but I really enjoyed it. It was hard. There were a lot of long nights in my flat just catching up, reading textbooks, going online for lectures, emailing lecturers.
“It was hard at times but the club at Sunderland were awesome with me, and so were Newcastle University. They were both always willing to compromise to help me to get through, they were massive in what I achieved and so I’m very grateful for that.”
The extra work has certainly not affected Watmore’s performance on the pitch – in recent weeks he has come of the bench to star in England Under-21s’ 3-1 win over Switzerland, and has also earned himself a five-year contract at Sunderland.
His parents – Ian, a former chief executive of the Football Association and lifelong Alty fan, and Georgina, a rector in Cheshire – made the trip to the North East to watch their son pick up his degree.
Watmore said he had experienced more of the “proper” student life while at Altrincham – where he scored 15 goals in 48 appearances and became a fans’ favourite – and lived in halls of residence.
“I properly experienced the uni side of things there,” he said. “The last two years has been more the academic side.”
Watmore is only the second Premier League footballer to gain a first-class degree, after former Leeds and Bradford defender David Wetherall, who graduated from Sheffield University in chemistry in 1992.
