The path between professional football and the sports media is certainly well-trodden so it's no surprise that Jay Bothroyd is one of the more recent to walk it. 

The London-born striker started his career in the Arsenal academy but spent a large chunk of his career in the Championship – with the likes of Stoke City, Wolves, Cardiff City, and Sheffield Wednesday.

Fans of many EFL clubs will remember Bothroyd's goals, for better or for worse, but he's likely best remembered in the Welsh capital.

The forward, who would earn one England cap during his career, played more games and scored more goals for the Bluebirds than any other team.

He helped them reach the Championship play-offs in back-to-back seasons (2009/10 and 2010/11) before securing a move to Premier League side QPR.

Bothroyd moved abroad after leaving Loftus Road – joining Thai League side Muangthong United for a brief but fairly fruitful spell before heading to Japan, where he would enjoy something of a resurgence.

His first stop was Júbilo Iwata, who he fired to promotion from the J2 League in 2015 by bagging 20 goals in 32 appearances and winning the only golden boot award of his career.

The striker left Júbilo Iwata in January 2017 but by July of that year, he signed for J1 League outfit Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo.

Bothroyd spent five seasons with Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo – scoring 39 times and providing 20 assists in his 139 appearances for the club – before calling time on his playing career at the end of the 2021 J League campaign.

He has since headed back to London but is still involved with the beautiful game and can be regularly seen and heard on the likes of Sky Sports and talkSPORT.

Bothroyd also writes a column for Sporting News Japan and is a regular voice on Twitter talking about English, Japanese and international football.