Football is a game of two halves - but for Truro City's goalie Jason Chapman doing sums could add up to a new career writes Thomas Murdock.

The 22-year-old is using his spare time to study for a new career as a teacher, starting with a mathematics A level at Cornwall College, which he plans to follow up with a degree in the subject.

His plans follow club chairman Kevin Heaney scrapping plans to go full-time for financial reasons.

Chapman said: "Truro City not going full-time next year has really opened my eyes that football is such a short career and I need something else to fall back on."

Fans of the club will know all about Chappy's ability to narrow an angle and play the percentages, but few will be aware of his passion for maths.

Chapman decided he wanted to do maths at the Camborne-site because he really enjoyed it at school and said it was one of the only subjects he was really interested in.

"I'm hoping to go into maths teaching because I like working with kids and helping younger adults as well," he added.

"It's a short career - you enjoy it while you can but ultimately there is more to life than football."

In the meantime, the Cornwall College football team have been given a real boost by the arrival of the talented keeper.

College director of football, Dan Inch, hopes Chapman will be able to tighten up their defence by playing in goal for the college team.

"It would be great if Jason could perform for us this year," he said.

"It's also great for our team's keeper Sean Carter - he's been training with Jason and we hope he will go on to play at a higher level as well.

"Having someone like Jason at the college will provide a massive inspiration for the other students," he added.

Truro City's goalkeeping coach Sukhdev Sidhu also works as a maths lecturer at the college and hopes Chapman will inspire the other students to achieve great things.

"Its an absolute pleasure to have Jason here to study," he said.

"Its great for the other students to see someone work so hard at his game but also want to achieve academically as well. We hope some of his ability and professionalism could really rub off on them."

Chapman, who currently works part time as a coach for Plymouth Argyle, says he is enjoying life at Cornwall College which he attends every Monday.

He said: "I chose the college because the maths department came highly recommended.

"They let me train in their facilities and they've all been really friendly - students, teachers, everyone. It's a nice place to come and work."