Marvin Ekpiteta can be Hibs home bargain after almost being left on the shelf during supermarket stints

With an employment history at Homebase and Tesco, new Hibs defender Marvin Ekpiteta can be forgiven for fearing he’d be left on football’s shelf.

The 28-year-old Englishman insists his grounding in the tough school of life has been ideal preparation for the next step of his career in Leith under David Gray. It’s been a story of triumph over adversity for the former Blackpool stopper, who is convinced his spell making ends meet in high street supermarkets has him fully stocked for the demands that await at Easter Road.

He told Record Sport: “I feel like I’m different to most players. Most have come though club academies from the age of nine. My story is completely different to the average player. I see football and life differently because of my experiences. I’m more than just a footballer, that’s not all of the real me. I was with Oxford United when they were in League Two and enrolled in a college programme.

“After a two-year scholarship I was released and I didn’t know what I was going to do. I went home and lived back at my mum’s. I was down. I didn’t know where to start. I had no idea where my life was going to go.

“One of my friends was on trial at Chelmsford City in the National League South. I knew nothing about that level, about part-time football or how much players were paid or even if they did get paid.

“I knew nothing about the standard but my friend told me to just come along as I had nothing else and I gave it a try. I went along and did fine. I was offered a contract but the money wasn’t enough to live on so I needed to get other work.”

Ekpiteta’s needed some retail therapy to help him maintain his dream of a career in football – even then he made his breakthrough just when he was about to call time. He