JOHN SOUTTAR admits he is now aiming to produce good coffee as well as performances on the pitch for Hearts and Scotland after opening his own cafe.
The defender recently started the new business - called Maison Dieu - in Brechin with friend and former Dundee United team-mate Euan Spark.
The idea first emerged during the nadir of suffering a relapse to his second Achilles tear in August 2020 - a time when Souttar feared for his football career.
However, with Souttar now a prime target for a host of clubs, thought to include Rangers, Sheffield United and Stoke City as his contract runs down at Tynecastle, the 25-year-old is not planning to hang up the boots for the apron just yet.
Souttar, speaking to Four Four Two, said: “The idea started after my second Achilles injury. Rightly or wrongly you have moments when you consider the worst case scenario. What if I don’t make it back?
“It’s a business but more of a passion. I like the idea of opening more places and employing local people.
“I’ve always liked coffee and had a general interest in the process, so we did a few courses and it developed from there.
“Every dressing room has a coffee club - there’s been a cultural change, when previoulsy lads might have headed to the pub or bookies.
“What surprised me is how much goes into it before that bag of coffee arrives in Brechin.
“We’ve learned a lot about how much work people do on African and South American farms - how often they’re exploited and how unfair the system can be.
“We pay more than we have to for coffee but we want people to get a fair price. We can trace the stuff we buy back to farms in Colombia and Brazil. It’s heartbreaking to think how much people are ripped off.”
Souttar looks certain to depart Hearts this summer after getting back to his best following a nightmare run with injury.
The centre-half marked his return to the Scotland set-up in November with a goal and man of the match performance in the crucial World Cup qualifying group victory over Denmark
Souttar admits that game was a significant one given his own personal torment.
He added: “I still smile thinking about it, and I don’t mind saying I was emotional on the night.
“It’s always meant a lot to be involved with Scotland at any age. I’m from the North East, where so many of the travelling Tartan Army come from.
“It felt like a big step to have made the breakthrough three years ago and then cruel when the injuries hit.
“There are some lonely days in rehab. I think it all came out when I scored.
“My family, friends and the people at Hearts deserve so much credit for helping me to keep my head up.
“The third Achilles injury was the hardest to deal with because you know how gruelling the rehab in front of you will be - it’s tough to take.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here