Many high profile tennis stars are avid followers of football. Rafael Nadal, for example, is often found at the Santiago Bernabeu to support Real Madrid whereas Roger Federer sometimes takes to social media to express his fandom for FC Basel.
British player Sir Andy Murray is no exception and from his childhood, he has been following football pretty closely.
In between his busy training schedule and travels, he does not miss keeping a tab on his favourite teams. But who does he support? GOAL takes a look...
Which football teams does Andy Murray support?
Murray is a fan of both Premier League side Arsenal and Scottish Premiership team Hibernian. He also supports the Scotland national team.
The Scot has had the privilege of growing up in a family which was seeped with footballing heritage and his grandfather, Roy Erskine, played for Hibs in the early 1950s.
"It does help, you get used to losing a lot at a young age! In terms of watching games, I went to watch Hibs play AEK Athens [in 2001] and they lost in extra time. But it ended 4-3 [on aggregate] and it was an amazing game," Murray stated.
"I would have been young at the time but I will always remember that because Hibs playing in Europe is really rare. Our family all supported Hibs because my grandfather had played for them, and we'd all go along and watch them together.
"I'd have been six or seven at my first game but I don't really remember it. My dad told me that I used to cry whenever Hibs scored because the crowd was so loud. I don't cry at football anymore!" he laughed.
In 2016, when he became world number one, he was congratulated by Hibernian in a heartfelt post.
But as he grew up he also started rooting for Premier League side Arsenal. During an interaction with former Gunner Robert Pires, he confessed: "I used to support Hibs when I was a kid. Then when I started traveling a lot, couldn't watch Scottish football on TV anymore, and then I started following Arsenal because of the way your (Pires') team played."
The three-time Grand Slam winner also went on to pick his favourite five-a-side Arsenal team and surprisingly included no goalkeeper.
"'I'm taking Tony Adams, (Thierry) Henry, (Dennis) Bergkamp, (Robert) Pires and (Patrick) Vieira."
At international level, Murray supports his native Scotland, regularly voicing his backing for the team online, in particular Billy Gilmour, who he described as his "idol".
He has jokingly said that he would support "whoever England were playing against", but wished the Three Lions well at Euro 2020 after Scotland were eliminated.
Andy Murray spent hours playing Football Manager
Murray has spoken in the past about his love of the computer game Football Manager and revealed that he would spend sleepless nights hooked to the screen, indicating that he would even struggle to reach training the next morning.
"I played a lot of Football Manager growing up - it killed a lot of time on the road - but it also became a bit of an issue when I was staying up late to play," he told BBC Sport in 2019.
"I had to cut back a few years ago. When I was in Spain, myself and a friend would have two teams each - we were staying up until 3am, and we would start training at 8am, so I had to stop playing it."
In his teens, he would play football and tennis, and only when he was 14 or 15 he chose to concentrate on tennis. "I used to play a lot when I was younger, but I had to choose between football and tennis when I was 14 or 15," continued Murray.
"It is difficult to keep doing both and commit enough time to both of them, but there is a lot of stuff about football that I miss."
Andy Murray the football coach?
When Jose Mourinho joined Tottenham as head coach in 2019, Murray was a bit disappointed being an Arsenal fan, but conceded that the Portuguese added spice to the competition.
"I love it when he’s in the Premier League. I just think he makes it so much more interesting to be honest. I think he would do a good job for Arsenal," the tennis star told talkSPORT.
"The one thing about him is that you know he will win. He finds ways to win matches and tournaments. That would have been a great appointment."
Murray himself has hinted that he has an interest in football coaching after he hangs up his racquet. He even owns an athlete management company called '77' which he founded in 2013.
"As far as football coaching goes, I have been asked if there were any other jobs I would be interested in doing, and I would like to do something in sport," Murray told BBC Sport.
"Football is something that has always interested me and, it would be a fun thing to try. A lot of people think they could do a good job, and that they know what teams should be doing, but there is a lot more to it than that."
