Scots banker quits career to customise football boots for stars such as Thiago and Rudiger

An Edinburgh man turned his love of customising football boots into his full-time job - and now works with Europe's top players including Thiago and Rudiger. Ryan Park, 32, rediscovered the hobby during lockdowns having enjoyed renovating football boots in his early 20s.

The investment banker would buy old pairs of boots on eBay then refurbish and share his transformations on his Instagram page Boots N Pieces. By the end of 2020, Hibernian team captain and Scottish national team member, Paul Hanlon had reached out to Ryan with a customization request of his own.

Before long, word had spread about Ryan's business - with players from across the Scottish Premier League and beyond reaching out. After just a year and a half in business, Ryan left his 13-year career in investment banking to run Boots N Pieces full-time.

Top players regularly get in touch with Ryan - working with Real Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger and now former Liverpool player Thiago Alcantara. Ryan said: ''During lockdown, I had a bit of time on my hands so I picked up an old hobby that I'd had when I was younger.

"I decided to start buying boots on eBay and refurbishing them, selling them on for a bit of profit. One day, I decided to start an Instagram page so I could show off before and afters of my work, and it really started gaining a lot of traction.

"People started messaging me and asking for me to customise their boots and it just snowballed from there. It was a complete career change I worked in investment banking for about 13 years.

"I did quite enjoy my job, but during lockdown, I worked from home and had a lot more spare time and a passion was born. It wasn't a tough decision. I was really confident that it would work out and I was earning enough