Washing My Own Strip Put Me Off My Game

If ever there was evidence that footballers - even those playing at a modest level - live on a different planet to the rest of us then it's how washing their own work gear seems to be such a hardship.

In Saturday's Scottish Sun former Morton goalkeeper David McGurn (pictured, left) told George Rowe how he puts his clean sheets at Raith Rovers down to the fact he is no longer distracted by having to wash his own training gear - which he had to do at Morton: "I played under a few managers at Morton and although they were all great to play for there were too many distractions. After training we had to take our own gear home to wash and dry it for the next day.

"If I ever needed gloves or boots it was a big issue and although they are all trivial things they did distract you."

Chris Millar also mentioned this recently. In a Courier article the St. Johnstone midfielder told how his decision to leave Celtic and join Morton was "the best decision I have made". However, there were times when he thought he'd made the wrong decision and those thoughts involved washing his own gear: "I knew I had to take a step back and there were times when I wondered whether I had made the right decision.

“You had the trips to places like Elgin on a cold January night and I remember after my debut against Montrose that I had to take my kit home and wash it. That was certainly different to life at Celtic."

At least Millar isn't claiming that it distracted him from performing to the best of his ability on the park.

The Scottish Sun - Spotlight On Division One (19.10.2009)

The Courier - Decision To Leave Celtic Now Vindicated, Says Millar (17.10.2009)