On the front line: Sports stars who have served in the military

Golf’s Bae Sang-Moon looks set to become the latest high-profile sporting star to have a spell in the military.

The two-time winner PGA Tour winner was denied an extension of his overseas travel visa in his native South Korea, meaning he must return home by the end of the month.

Although the 28-year-old has been a permanent US resident for two years, Bae is still, at present, required by Korean law to complete a two-year conscription. 

While attorneys for the world No 83 are attempting to get the visa extended, the Korean could soon have his involvement on the PGA Tour somewhat limited.

Players in the past have attempted to juggle golf with their military duties, with Mikko Ilonen taking leave from his service in the Finnish Defence Forces in 2001 to finish a career-best tied-ninth at the Open Championship. 

In contrast, Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee extended his army career before switching to golf, with the six-time European Tour winner spending more than a decade as a paratrooper in the Royal Thai Army.

Away from the golf course, here are just some of the plethora of well-known sports stars called up for duty. 

Football

Prior to his European Cup-winning leg wobble with Liverpool, Bruce Grobbelaar spent two years on national service in the Zimbabwean Army during the Rhodesian Bush War, where he was instructed to ‘shoot anything that moved’.

Grobbelaar isn’t the only player to have been called-up at the start of his career, with Alessandro del Piero and Eric Cantona among many to have undergone some form of military labour.

While many of England’s World Cup winning squad underwent national service, including all-time record goalscorer Sir Bobby Charlton and goalkeeper Gordon Banks, there are plenty of footballers who escaped military duties from countries where it remains compulsory. 

Former Liverpool full-back John Arne Riise avoided being called-up to serve in his native Norway by playing abroad, as did Swansea’s Ki Sung-Yueng and his South Korean Olympic team-mates after winning bronze at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Rugby Union

Semesa Rokoduguni became the latest in a long line of military internationals when the Fijian-born Lance Corporal made his England debut against New Zealand last November.

The winger had previously featured for the British Army XV during his time serving as a Royal Scots Dragoon Guards tank soldier, before signing for Bath in 2012.

Rokoduguni is the first serving soldier to receive an England call-up since Tim Rodber, who made 44 international appearances while also a captain in the Green Howards infantry.

Cricket

Long before becoming the first player to make 100 Test appearances, Colin Cowdrey lasted less than a month into his national service before being discharged with stiff toe joints.

The injury didn’t prevent Cowdrey returning to the national team a few weeks later and continue playing for England until he was 42-years-old!

Down under, Doug Walters could have played more than 74 Tests for Australia had he not been conscripted to two years of national service training.

The batsman only played a handful of first-class games during his military stint, but returned to the national side in 1968 with four test hundreds in as many home matches.

While former Kent captain Matthew Fleming is now a multi-millionaire, he also spent four years in the army prior to his professional sporting career.

The nephew of James Bond creator, Ian, Fleming captained the Army’s cricket team while serving as an officer in the Royal Green Jackets. He went on to make 11 international appearances for England’s one-day international side.

NFL

Four-time Super Bowl winner Rocky Bleier wasn’t expected to play again after a leg injury sustained during the Vietnam War left him initially unable to walk pain-free.

The running back had a season with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a rookie before joining the US Army, but later returned to the side several years later to play a key part in their successes during the 1970s.

Meanwhile, eight months after the September 11 attacks, safety Pat Tillman voluntarily enlisted in to the US Army, serving in the Middle East.

Tillman turned down a long-term multi-million dollar NFL contract to stay with the Arizona Cardinals – where he had been for several seasons – to head out to Iraq and later Afghanistan, where he was tragically killed in 2004.

Tennis

The first of Arthur Ashe’s three Grand Slam titles actually came whilst the American was still an amateur serving then as a second lieutenant in the US Army.

Winning the 1968 US Open and becoming a household name in tennis was only possible though thanks to Arthur’s younger brother Johnnie, who saved him from the possibility of being called out on duty by volunteering for a second stint in Vietnam in his place.

Athletics

Double Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes spent nearly a decade in the British Army after initially turning her back on athletics as a teenager.

Holmes secured gold in the 800m and 1,500m at the 2004 Athens games – 12 years on from watching the Barcelona games from her barracks which inspired her to return to the track.

The former Sergeant had already won Commonwealth Games gold and a World Championship silver while juggling her military and running commitments, before returning to sport full-time.

Best of the rest…

Not letting national service get in the way of his rise through the motor sports ranks, Finland’s former World Champion Kimi Raikkonen used all of his available leave to feature in the Formula Renault UK Championship.

Raikkonen won seven of 10 races to take the title, before moving to Formula One with Sauber the following season.

Elsewhere, Heather Stanning and team-mate Helen Glover secured Britain’s first ever women’s rowing Olympic gold medal back in London 2012, but that was only possible after Stanning was given permission from the army to continue her rowing career.

The Captain with the 32 Regiment Royal Artillery in Wiltshire returned to the Army after the games, but wants to represent Team GB in Rio in 2016.

And away from the water, long before “the Singapore Slinger” hit the first televised nine-dart finish at the Embassy World Professional Darts Championship, Paul Lim spent three years in his home country as a military policeman. It was only after national service that Lim moved to Britain and trained to be a chef.