The impression some people have of footballer’s is that they are one slice short of a loaf, barely able to string a coherent sentence together.

But that cannot be said of Cray Wanderers winger Mark Hammond.

Now 32 years old and with his playing career drawing toward the final whistle, he is carving out a new direction for himself.

In July this year, Mark gained a first class honours degree in physical education and sport at Greenwich University.

And it is something he is very proud of.

‘Football has brought me a great deal of success,’ Mark said, ‘but getting a first class honours beats everything I’ve achieved in life so far. This qualification will help me progress in my career and could open up a host of new opportunities’.

Born and bred in the Cray’s, Mark has his dad to thank for getting him interested in football and encouraging him to persevere in the game.

As a talented player himself who was known as the wizard of dribble, he could see the potential his son possessed.

That perseverance paid off as Mark went from playing for his school side Hurstmere, to playing in the Champions League!

But more of that later.

While at school Mark was selected to play for the North Kent district team. He was spotted by scouts from Millwall football club.

They saw enough footballing ability in this schoolboy to offer him a trial.

He passed with flying colours and was soon playing for Millwall’s youth side.

But any dreams he had of playing for the first team were dashed.

Mark explained: ‘It didn’t quite work out as I had hoped at Millwall.

Football is a very competitive sport and only a very small percentage of players make it professionally.

But I have no regrets.

I’ve got some great memories to look back on.’

After leaving Millwall, Mark went on to play for Welling United, Cray Wanderers, Aldershot Town and Harchester United.

Harchester who?

You might remember them as the Dream Team who appeared on our television screens from 1997 to 2007.

The series was broadcast by Sky TV.

Mark was snapped up by the Team and ‘played’ for them during the 2003/04 and 2004/05 seasons (series 7 and 8).

He enjoyed a successful period at the club which culminated in playing against Real Mallorca in the Champions League.

Sadly the Dragons, as Harchester were nicknamed, lost.

Mark said of his time filming the series: ‘It was a tremendous experience.

I worked with some talented actors and crew and it was fun seeing myself on TV.

Although it wasn’t all glamorous.

There was a lot of hanging around on set.’

But the lure of 'real' football overpowered any desire Mark might have had of becoming the Cray’s very own Tom Cruise.

So in 2005 he returned to semi-professional football, with Bromley FC.

Then a phone call out of the blue, took him off to play for CC Strikers in Australia.

He recalled: ‘A friend from my Millwall youth team days contacted me and asked if I would be interested in plying my trade in Oz.

It was a great opportunity so I said yes and ended playing for a while down under.’

When his contract came to an end, he returned to Blighty and Cray Wanderers came calling.

He accepted their offer to play for them and earlier this year he signed up for his second spell at the club he supported as a boy.

Mark said: ‘This is a great club to be a part of.

And I’ve rejoined at a very special time.

Not only is the club celebrating its 150th anniversary, we are also playing at the highest level ever in the club’s history (the Isthmian league premier division).

It’s a great club to be a part of and I hope to be around for quite a while yet to help them get even more success.‘

And Mark really believes they can climb even higher.

He said: ‘With the current squad of players and coaching staff, there is no reason why we can‘t push on to greater heights.’

In fact it is Cray Wanderers team manager Ian Jenkins and coach Joe Francis that he cites for his decision to return to the Wands, as the club are nicknamed.

Joe first coached Mark when he was at school.

Now as well as coaching him for Cray, they also work together at Millwall where Joe oversees the youth team development.

Mark said: ‘Both Joe and Ian have had a massive influence on my playing career.

In fact, I would describe Ian as a non-league version of Alex Ferguson. Like the Manchester United manager, he looks out for his players both on and off the pitch.’

And when asked what his dream team for the future would be, Mark’s reply was immediate.

‘The club promoted into the Football League, with Jenko at the helm, Joe coaching and both me and Joe responsible for the club’s youth development.

Whose to say it can’t happen?’

Who indeed.

And now in light of his educational success, maybe his team mates will honour him with a new nickname.

Instead of ‘ammo’, how about ‘the professor’?