SIMON Lappin was once a Premier League high-flier but York City’s latest recruit is targeting even loftier heights when he retires from the game.

As a trainee pilot, Lappin is just five flying hours short of obtaining his commercial licence, meaning the ex-Norwich City utility man could, one day, be transporting you to your holiday destination.

The former Scotland under-21 international opted for a career in football rather than pursuing his other passion when he was a youngster, but reasons that his love of aeroplanes has proven a welcome distraction from the pressures of the modern game.

Whilst he is interested in remaining in the sport as a coach, Lappin is also well aware that having an alternative option to such a volatile profession is reassuring.

On his unusual past-time and career path away from football, Lappin said: “I’ve done 40 of the 45 hours in the air now that I need for my commercial pilot licence, so it’s something I’m actively doing.

“When I was a boy, I was looking at football or doing an Aeronautical Engineering degree at university. I saw football, though, as a once-in-a-lifetime thing and went down that route, while realising you need other stuff to go back to later.

“I just want to carry on playing for as long as possible at the moment and, if I don’t stay in football in a coaching capacity, which does interest me as well, then I’ve got that decision to make to pursue a career in flying. It’s also been good down the years to do something else that I enjoy to take my focus away from football.

“I think it’s healthy to have other interests outside the game.”

Should he earn his licence, it is even conceivable that Lappin could become the first-ever person to land a job for Emirates, having played at the ground bearing the company’s name.

One of the 33-year-old midfielder’s four Premier League appearances for Norwich came against an Arsenal team, featuring the likes of Robin van Persie, Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlian, that ended in a 3-3 draw.

On that experience, he enthused: “It’s where you want to be as a footballer and I was lucky enough to get there with Norwich. I didn’t play as much as I would have liked to but, coming from being a young kid at St Mirren, to play at that level was something of a dream for me and what you’ve always strived to do.

“Going to the Emirates and getting a draw was brilliant and that period was an unbelievable roller-coaster at Norwich, because we won back-to-back promotions and I loved every minute of it.”

That roller-coaster ride had its lowest dip right at the start when Norwich’s League One title-winning campaign kicked off with a 7-1 home thrashing at the hands of Colchester, as the Canaries kicked off the season with just one point from a possible nine.

He is, therefore, not daunted by trying to turn around the fortunes at Bootham Crescent after 2016/17’s disappointing first three months.

“It sounded like we could have won at Eastleigh and we’ve got to start building some momentum by getting as many points on board as possible and who knows what can happen in football then?” he ventured.

YAN Klukowski, meanwhile, has picked up his first Press Player of the Year points of the season following a man-of-the-match performance during the 1-1 draw at Eastleigh.

Having been surprisingly converted into a centre-back, the 29-year-old attacking midfielder also picked up the two Player of the Month bonus points after topping our online man-of-the-match poll, which means he is the early leader of that contest.

Our other points from the Eastleigh game went to Clovis Kamdjo (two) and Danny Holmes (one), as The Press’ second and third-highest rated performers.

The Press Player of the Year standings: Letheren 19, Whittle 15, Connolly 14, Brodie 12, Heslop 12, Kamdjo 10, Higgins 7, Flinders 6, Felix 5, Fry 5, Galbraith 5, Klukowski 3, Clappison 2, Dixon 2, Rooney 2, Wright 2, Holmes 1, Nti 1, Oyebanjo 1, Simpson 1, Walton 1.

The November Press Player of the Month standings: Klukowski 5, Kamdjo 2, Holmes 1.

Goals: Brodie 7, Connolly 3, Heslop 3, Fry 2, Fenwick 1, Galbraith 1, Kamdjo 1, Klukowski 1, Nti 1, Own Goal 1, Wright 1.

Assists: Connolly 6, Rooney 3, Felix 2, Galbraith 2, Wright 2, Cooper 1, Fry 1, Heslop 1, Higgins 1, Holmes 1, Klukowski 1, Whittle 1.

Bad boys: Brodie nine yellow cards; Rooney eight yellow; Higgins five yellow; Heslop one red, three yellow; Fry four yellow; Wright three yellow; Fenwick, Kamdjo, Nti, Whittle all two yellow; Clappison, Connolly, Dixon, Galbraith, Johnson, Klukowski, Letheren, Newton, Thompson all one yellow.