Marc Pugh doesn’t just cook up a storm on the football pitch, but it’s also in the kitchen that the former Cherries midfielder enjoys spending his time.
Taking to Instagram to share his journey, while also studying and completing a diploma, @TheFoodieFootballer has gone from strength to strength, with exciting recipes and video tutorials available.
The page currently has over 62,000 followers and continues to grow, with Pugh sharing new posts on a regular basis.
He caught up with afcb.co.uk to explain more about its success and how the page was started.
“I’d wanted to set up a page for a long time, but I just never got round to it,” he began.
“I’d always found excuses like being busy with football or busy with this and that, but it actually started when we got promoted to the Championship with Bournemouth.
“It was a bit of an eye-opener at first with the intensity levels of the Championship. I always looked after myself and I always thought I did things right, but I did a nutrition diploma at 26 to try and educate myself.
“I was getting tired around 70 minutes into a game during that first season in the Championship, but when I first started taking my nutrition seriously and looking more into it, I felt so much better after 90 minutes. I could run and run and I just felt great for it.
“It also coincided with when we had our second child, it was my way of helping out around the house because we didn’t have any family in the south as our relatives were all up north.
“My wife had a lot on at the time and I couldn’t even boil an egg! But I love it now and I really enjoy educating myself on it.”
However, it’s not just Pugh who is into his nutrition.
Much to his delight, the winger’s two daughters are also keen on trying new foods and helping to sample some of the delicious dishes their dad cooks up!
“They absolutely love it and they love trying new foods.
“I’m chuffed to bits that my kids enjoy nutritious foods as well. You go on holiday and they’ll try all the seafood, things like muscles and they eat all the veg, so they’re really good in that respect.
“We do little challenges. We like doing blindfold challenges with food that they’re not so sure about.
“When we put it in front of them and when they actually taste it, without seeing what it looks like, they actually quite like it. I think it’s quite a nice way to get kids to eat healthily.”
Away from the kitchen, they’ll be another topic on Pugh’s radar this weekend, as AFC Bournemouth travel to Hull City for their next Championship fixture.
The 34-year-old, who only has fond memories of his time with the club, joined on loan for the second half of the 2018/19 season, playing 14 times and scoring three goals.
“I absolutely loved my time at Hull,” he continued.
“It was difficult to leave Bournemouth because I was desperate to stay and get in the team, but I knew that I wasn’t playing and I needed to get out on loan to play some games.
“Nigel Adkins was absolutely amazing with me. I just loved it, I made some good friends who I still speak to now.
“Unfortunately, when my loan finished, Nigel Atkins left the club. I would’ve loved to have stayed there but it wasn’t meant to be and I went to QPR afterwards.
“It’s a real family club and the fans really took to me. They were amazing and really approachable. If things weren’t going your way, they wouldn’t get on your back.
“When I signed for the club, we were close to getting in the play offs and we went on a really good run.
“We played some really good football, I was enjoying my football and it was just great to play in front of them.”
Pugh admitted that he always keeps a close eye on his former clubs and tomorrow will be no different, as Scott Parker’s side do battle with Hull City at the MKM Stadium.
The fixture will be the first time the two teams have met since the 2016/17 season, the Cherries recording their biggest Premier League win with a 6-1 scoreline at home to the Tigers, but losing the reverse fixture in Humberside.
“I follow all my old clubs, Bournemouth especially because I was there for so long and I have a lot of close friends there.
“I want both clubs to do well and it’s going to be an interesting result to look at and it’ll be a good game.
“Hull have nothing to lose having just been promoted and Bournemouth need to bounce back from the mid-week defeat to Norwich, so it’s going to be an interesting one.”
To follow Pugh’s Instagram page, just click here. Alternatively, a detailed look at his latest recipes can be found online here.
