Former England goalkeeper Nigel Spink reached the pinnacle of the sport during his playing days, but has since taken the football pitch to the open road. Aston Villa legend Spink enjoyed a glittering career, winning his only England cap in 1983.
The 67-year-old was called up to the Three Lions a year after coming to Villa’s relief during the club’s biggest ever victory in the 1982 European Cup final. Making his second appearance for Villa after replacing the injured Jimmy Rimmer for just 10 minutes, Spink kept a clean sheet against Bayern Munich and began his long spell as the club’s number one, spanning 460 games in total. On the international stage, the highlight of his career was coming on as a second-half substitute for Peter Shilton to keep a clean sheet in a 1–1 draw. After hanging up his boots, Spink went on to have a successful career as a coach, but chose to leave football in 2013 to pursue a new career as a courier.
The Villa icon was manager of Forest Green Rovers for two years before going on to work as goalkeeping coach under Steve Bruce at Birmingham City, Wigan and Sunderland. It was after his time with the Black Cats ended that Spink’s future business partner Paul Munro lent him a van to clean out his apartment in 2013, when he began to develop the idea that would lead to him quitting football.
“In November of that year, we actually loaded up the van and drove back and thought, what a great job this was,” he previously told Birmingham Live. “We spent the better part of 18 months researching. We did a lot of homework and preparation.”
The pair now run S Courier and M Courier, operating across the UK. Spink doesn’t seem to regret leaving football. However, as reported by BirminghamLive, he recently returned to the stadium where he won the European Cup ahead of Villa’s Europa League victory over Feyenoord.
“I’m enjoying every minute of it,” Spink said of his job as a courier. “We have some great clients that we work with all the time and are open to anything. We both drive a Villa livery van and the club is still a big favorite for both of us.
“We work Monday to Friday. After years of working every weekend and public holidays as a soccer player, this is perfect because now I get to spend quality time with my family on the weekends.”
Spink made a name for himself on club football’s biggest stage, gaining accolades representing his country and becoming a Villa hero. While many dream of living out Spink’s playing days, he seems equally happy with his unlikely new career.
