Hitting the bar! Ex-footballer to tackle legal career after degree success
Adam Bale is hoping to become a barrister after his professional football career was cut short by a leg injury.
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
A former professional footballer has scored top marks in his law degree and revealed his ambitions to become a barrister and one day sit as a judge.
Former Sunderland and Hartlepool United midfielder Adam Bale had to give up the game after a leg injury and made a major career change, fulfilling his childhood dream of becoming a lawyer.
The 24-year-old, from Washington, Tyne and Wear, gained a first class degree from Sunderland University and won the Sweeney Miller Law Prize for outstanding results in commercial law.
I can see that Adam has the skills, determination and knowledge needed to get him through the Bar course and to become a very accomplished barrister
Mr Bale combined his studies with serving as a magistrate.
He said said: “Football was my first love, and when I moved to Hartlepool, I suffered an injury and never quite bounced back.
“My aspiration, however, was always to move over to law later in my career, but thought I might as well grasp at the football while I was young and could play.”
Mr Bale continued his studies and completed his A-Levels while he was a footballer.
He now aims to become a barrister, which he hopes will lead to becoming a judge one day.
Toni Spencer, principal lecturer at Sunderland University, said: “Having been a practising solicitor myself for over 12 years and represented clients in court hearings on many occasions, I can see that Adam has the skills, determination and knowledge needed to get him through the Bar course and to become a very accomplished barrister.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.