ONCE upon a time, opening a pub was the fall-back option for retired footballers seeking a career outside of the game.

Nowadays, you’re more likely to see ex-professionals making a living from pushing the virtues of nutritional products.

Whatever the merits of an apple a day, though, few have gone on to become doctors.

Former York City right-back Graeme Law, therefore, has joined a small band of players, including Brazilian legend Socrates, to have earned that title.

Law, now 34, has just graduated from the University of Chester, who offered him a research bursary to complete a PhD study, where he researched and examined the monetisation of social relations within the working lives of professional footballers.

The former Scotland under-19 international had previously studied for a BA in Physical Education (PE) and Sports Coaching at York St John University, where he now teaches PE and Sports Coaching.

His PhD followed a Master’s degree in Sociology of Sport and Exercise at Chester.

As a footballer, meanwhile, Law played 35 times for the Minstermen between 2004 and 2005, before later spells with Dundee, Tamworth, Northwich and Farsley Celtic.

He, therefore, benefitted from easy access to past-and-present footballers to collate data for his doctorate and now hopes his research can assist clubs in helping players cope better with pressures attached to the game.

In a week when Paul Merson emotionally admitted that he had again fallen victim to his gambling addiction, Law’s thesis addresses the perils of battling betting demons amongst other issues and he declared: “I want to help clubs realise that players are not just a number – they’re people who need supporting throughout their careers and guiding towards a successful life after their playing days are over.

“They feel pressure to live up to the image of the top-level player, even if they’re not, and many turn to gambling. It’s a release, something they can do alone and with teammates and allows them to break their daily routine and they get little or no guidance on how to handle money no matter what level of the game they’re playing.

“They need to be encouraged to think about how they’re going to make a living when they stop playing, because not everyone can be a coach or a TV pundit.”

Dr Daniel Bloyce, the University of Chester’s deputy head of department of sports and science, was impressed, meanwhile, by the standard of Law’s work, adding: “It’s a rare combination – an academic and former professional footballer – and Graeme’s final piece of work was as good a PhD as you are ever likely to see in the area of the sociology of sport.”

SEAN Newton is a clear leader of The Press Player of the Month standings for March.

The 30-year-old utility man is eight points ahead of nearest challengers Scott Burgess and Alex Kempster.

Newton has opened up such a commanding gap after scooping our man-of-the-match award and winning the online poll after last weekend’s 1-0 home defeat to Altrincham, collecting five points in the process.

He had received both accolades following the previous Saturday’s 1-0 triumph at Leamington.

The other Press points from the Altrincham match were awarded to Burgess (two) and David Ferguson (one) as our second and third-highest performers respectively.

The Press Player of the Year standings: Bartlett 27, Burrow 27, Griffiths 24, Newton 16, Wright 14, Moke 11, York 11, Ferguson 10, Heslop 9, Penn 9, Tait 9, Bray 8, Kempster 7, Burgess 6, Parkin 6, Langstaff 5, Mirfin 5, Allan 4, Bencherif 4, Burgess 6, Davis 4, Agnew 3, Digie 3, Dyer 3, Harris 3, Law 3, McLaughlin 3, Hawkins 2, McAughtrie 1, Parslow 1.

The Press Player of the Month standings for March: Newton 10, Burgess 2, Kempster 2, Bencherif 1, Ferguson 1.

Goals: Burrow 17, Langstaff 5, Wright 5, Kempster 4, Newton 4, Bencherif 3, Parkin 3, York 3, Ferguson 2, Harris 2, Moke 2, Tait 2, Bray 1, Burgess 1, Griffiths 1, Hawkins 1, Heslop 1.

Assists: Burrow 10, Harris 6, Ferguson 4, Langstaff 4, Law 4, Wright 4, Parkin 3, Bray 3, Griffiths 3, York 3, Bartlett 2, Allan 1, Agnew 1, Bencherif 1, Digie 1, Dyer 1, Hawkins 1, Heslop 1, Kempster 1, McLaughlin 1, Newton 1, Tait 1.

Discipline: Wright eight yellow cards; Heslop seven yellow; Moke, Newton both six yellow; Bencherif five yellow; Griffiths, four yellow; Tait one red, two yellow; Davis three yellow; Ferguson, Law both two yellow; Penn one red, one yellow; Bray one red; Allan, Burgess, Hawkins, Kempster, Langstaff, McAughtrie, McLaughlin, York all one yellow.

FORMER City pair Andy Leaning and Iain Dunn will be answering supporters’ questions in a York City Supporters’ Trust event at Acomb Conservative Club on Tuesday.

The free event starts at 7.30pm and both players will also be interviewed by Match of the Day commentator Guy Mowbray.