{"id":293593,"date":"2023-10-08T08:54:04","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T08:54:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/?p=293593"},"modified":"2023-10-08T08:54:04","modified_gmt":"2023-10-08T08:54:04","slug":"arsenal-star-spent-48-hours-as-an-uber-driver-before-making-it-big-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/soccer\/arsenal-star-spent-48-hours-as-an-uber-driver-before-making-it-big-in-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal star spent 48 hours as an Uber driver before making it big in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"
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    It's unheard of for most top-flight footballers in a major European league to have a second job at the height of their athletic career.<\/p>\n

    However, Arsenal's Caitlin Foord was still a rising star in her native Australia when she decided to pick up some extra scratch driving for Uber. The former teenage prodigy – who is now 28 – was still at Sydney FC and splitting her time working as a physio's aide when she decided to get behind the wheel.<\/p>\n

    It was during a spell on the sidelines during the 2017\/18 season that Foord – who represented her country at this year's Women's World Cup – found her way into the taxi business as a means of distraction more than anything else. However, the stint hardly lasted long enough to warrant being called a career.<\/p>\n

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    "I did it to keep myself busy at my physio I go to, just helping out," Foord revealed in 2019. "Just to see what it was like.<\/p>\n

    "When I was injured, I was bored and I got sick of having the same conversations with people, so I signed up as an Uber driver and drove people around Wollongong.<\/p>\n

    Heard of a footballer with a stranger second job than Foord? Let us know in the comments section below.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

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    "It lasted 48 hours. I worked a Friday and Saturday night. One person recognised me, a friend of a friend. She said 'uhh Caitlin, what are you doing?'"<\/p>\n

    It's hardly a surprise Foord felt compelled to pick up more work given the minimum salary in Australia's W-League back then was as little as \u00a35,300. She eventually made the jump to join Portland Thorns in the United States in 2018 and was signed by Women's Super League side Arsenal in January 2020.<\/p>\n

    Needless to say the League Cup-winner hasn't felt obliged to pick up any more fares since earning her move to England almost four years ago. Foord has cemented her spot as an important member of the squad in north London and helped her side finish third in the league last term.<\/p>\n

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    But the Matildas star doesn't appear regretful over her short-lived stay driving passengers around Wollongong. In fact, Foord – who made her international debut at 16 and 108 caps for her country – found there were parts of the job that fascinated her coming from such a contrasted background in football.<\/p>\n

    "It was addictive," she added. "There are noises and lights and then when you get someone, you get to meet them. But at the end of it I was like, is this really worth it?"<\/p>\n