A journey: From footballer to IFA

Pro footballer and qualified IFA David Rowson talks to Laura Miller about juggling his commitments and planning ahead.

Think football and finance and the image is multi-million pound signings, six-figure weekly salaries and a life of lurid excess.

But Partick Thistle midfielder David Rowson says outside the eye-watering paychecks touted around in the Premier League, that picture needs some scaling down.

“However, all players need advice on looking after their money, and how to avoid gambling and the rest,” he adds.

Rowson should know. He has been a professional footballer since he left school at 17 and went to play for his hometown club of Aberdeen. After stints south of the border he is now back in Scotland playing for Thistle, where he has just signed a contract for another two years.

Unusually, he is also a qualified IFA.

“I’m doing the CII diploma to get to Level 4 but I have the Certificate in Financial Planning (CFP) so am qualified, though I’m not registered with the FSA at the moment. When I was I could never get into the office because of my football commitments.”

Realistic about the future

Rowson worked as an adviser at Premier Financial Management in Scotland in 2009, but only managed eight months before football commitments meant he had to leave.

However, his latest contract with Thistle is on a part-time basis so, with training limited to Thursday and Friday mornings, he plans to spend the rest of the time working as an IFA. At 34, Rowson is realistic about how much longer he will have a career on the pitch.

“The move to financial advice will happen in the next two to three years. It could happen tomorrow. You never know in football, a serious injury could happen anytime and that’s your career over.”

Rowson says the finances of Scottish football clubs are another reason to be realistic about the future.

“The clubs up here aren’t that well-off. Most teams are planning on going part-time so it’s essential to have a back up.”

Gaining experience

In preparation, and while still playing football professionally, Rowson has spent the last two years shadowing his own IFA, sitting in with him on client meetings and doing admin work for free just to gain hands-on experience of the profession.

“Seeing the way the boss does it and handles the clients is so useful. I have never really had the chance to work in an office environment because training was obviously always outside.”

Despite already being qualified, Rowson says he believes watching and learning from a practising IFA is important if he wants to make the transition to giving advice full-time.

“My IFA has too much experience for me not to try to learn from him. Like my footie job, you can’t just dismiss what other people have to say. You’re always learning and there’s no set way of doing things. He has 25 or 30 years’ experience in the field of investments. Just to say I’ve passed an exam and so now I can set up on my own would be detrimental to my learning and my career.”

Rowson also attends finance conferences “to keep my mind on the industry”, and says he supports the RDR’s aims to make advisers more professional.