Ex-Chelsea and Newcastle striker now unrecognisable in new job as a pastor

Former Chelsea and Newcastle star Gavin Peacock looks unrecognisable from his playing days following a drastic career change.

The Englishman, who hung up his boots in 2002, has taken a trip across the Atlantic – and he's now a pastor in Canada. A devoted Christian in his playing days, Peacock walked away from a punditry job to study a three-year masters course in divinity at Ambrose Seminary in Canada.

Before jetting across the Pond, he had started preaching in his local church St Michaels and All Angels in Wilmington. He told QPR's in-house media in 2013 about the switch: "I have been a Christian since my early days at QPR in the late 1980s.

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"I have always spoken about my faith in Jesus Christ but never sensed a call to full-time ministry until six years ago.

"This call was affirmed by the church and I began to preach. It was then that I felt compelled to pursue vocational ministry. I had been working for the BBC on Match of the Day and Football Focus as well as being sent to World Cups etc.

"It was all going very well. So when I gave everything up, it did surprise a number of people. It’s been the hardest few years of my life but coming away from the UK has given me some anonymity. Here in Canada, they consider me a preacher, not a footballer or pundit!"

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Peacock chalked up over 100 appearances for both Newcastle and Chelsea in an impressive career that spanned across the 1990s.

However, Peacock hit over 200 appearances for QPR in three separate spells with the London-based side. Peacock had a brief spell in punditry, most notably at the Africa Cup of Nations and Euro 2008, but he opted to swap to a career in faith.

Peacock also hosted an episode of Songs of Praise in 2008 and he presented a feature on Football Focus about faith in the game.

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