SIMEON AKINOLA has gone from playing against the world’s best players to working for one of the world’s best known banks.
He is still not officially retired from football – but he’s already making inroads into his new career.
GettySimeon Akinola, left, playing for Barnet against Maxime Biamou of Coventry in 2017[/caption]
EPAHe played against Dani Carvajal, left, and Alvaro Morata, right, during his youth in Spain[/caption]
The former EFL star last got his boots muddy as a substitute for National League side Wealdstone during their 2-0 defeat to his old side Barnet in December 2022.
But he has admitted that he felt that “football was a scam” after a number of events, leading him to make a career switch.
Akinola started his footballing career in Madrid, Spain after making the move from Nigeria.
He learned to play with his older brother, Daniel, who was scouted by Atletico Madrid.
But Akinola joined his local team Alcorcon and regularly played against the youth teams of Atletico, Real Madrid and Getafe.
During this time he played against the likes of Dani Carvajal, current Manchester United No1 David De Gea and Alvaro Morata.
He was then moved to England when he was 15 and went on to play in the lower leagues of English football.
During his footballing career, he turned out for Boreham Wood, Billericay Town, Harrow Borough, Braintree Town, Barnet, Southend and lastly Wealdstone.
In February, Akinola, 30, made history as the first-ever footballer to join bankers JP Morgan.
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He was able to get into the world renowned company through its military and athlete transition programme.
He enquired about the new career path while recovering from injury after a tip from a friend.
He told The Athletic: “You go through the interviewing process and they assign you a team based on your preferences and personality type.
“You do three interviews on an assessment day. It’s for six months but the idea is the vast majority of people convert to permanent positions.
“I’ve been honing my technical skills, using Excel, PowerPoint and things like that.
“I ended up in payment sales and I’m going into energy, power, renewables and mining investment banking next.
“That will involve capital raising and mergers and acquisitions for companies in that sector.
“I’d like to think there’s nothing JP Morgan could throw at me I haven’t been through before in football.”
After joining the banking giants he received congratulatory messages from Norwich City ace Isaac Hayden and Wigan and ex-England international Steven Caulker.
While Akinola does not like to think he has “retired” from football, he has admitted that it would be difficult to lace his boots back on.
He added: “Sitting down in front of a screen for hours is insane.
“It’s a huge change, but I like a challenge.
“You have to constantly be alert.
“I don’t like saying I’m retired, but it’s practically impossible (to go back to football).”