Football's Clarke Kent

Last night saw the broadcast of another edition of the BBC's flagship political discussion show Question Time. With the five or so panellists taking part in some pretty relevant and serious debate (although the standard has deteriorated a bit in my book), it is the last place one would expect to find a footballer. After all, most are far more used to the glare of flashing club strobe lights than the BBC spotlight.

Last night, though, was the exception. Coming live from Burnley, the panel included local interested party and centre back Clarke Carlisle. The Burnley FC vice-captain was joined by, amongst others, Clarets superfan and spindoctor in retirement Alistair Campbell and Lib Dem Deputy Leader Simon Hughes. Not to mention the presence of media whore George Galloway.

Carlisle did pretty well, considering that those other panellists are no slouches. He had an pretty easy gig to be sure; no-one was going to disagree with what he said as long as he sided with the majority view. He lost it a bit on certain points, particularly regarding the Iraq Inquiry and its fallout. But his points about the discontinuation of EMA were astute, and he did well to survive being in the firing line during a Campbell-Galloway verbal broadside. Overall, he came across as pretty clued up and displayed such skills as well constructed grammer and proper elocution. Praising this would be a bit patronising to most, but frankly for footballers it is about as good as it gets intellectually.

To add a bit of perspective, Big Clarke has 10 GCSE's and two A levels. Not bad, but hardly brilliant either. I would also guess that, had he not suffered season-ending injuries during his school years, he probably would not have those qualifications. And yet, he was easily crowned "Britain's Brainiest Footballer" a while back. I struggle to think of many other players who would give him a run for his money; Frank Lampard, David James and Benoit Assou-Ekotto do spring to mind. Still, he is unlikely to best me in a legal debate or lecture Ryan on the intricacies of the cardiovascular system.

Also, there are plenty of sportsmen in other sports that display similar smarts. In the Scottish rugby setup, we have a qualified doctor in Geoff Cross and a medical student (on hold) in Richie Vernon, as well as two Law graduates in past squads (Cusiter and Simon Taylor) for example.

But let's not get too downbeat about Mr Carlisle's achievements. As well as battling and defeating alcoholism in 2005, Clarke did also get to appear on Countdown and did damned well, no doubt spurred on by host Jeff Stelling (is there anything Jeff cannot do?). And earning the chance to meet replacement-Vorderman Rachel Riley is not to be sniffed at (I wonder if she is another thing Jeff can do?).

And it does now seem true that young footballers are receiving far better education through the footballing academies; players in possession of double digit GCSE's now seem to be part of a far more significant minority than before.

It is nice to have a positive image of sportsmen on our screens, particularly a footballer. It's a pity that nobody watches Question Time except me anyway!

GM