If life had taken a different turn David "Dai" Greene would be undertaking pre-season training with Championship side Swansea City right now, not making last-minute preparations for the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona where he is expected to win gold.
Indeed, even Greene admits that if he had just possessed the maturity he has now seemingly in abundance he would be plying his trade down the left wing for the Swans at the Liberty Stadium, and helping a team that come perennially close to the promotional play-offs to the Premiership each season.
"If I knew then what I know now I would definitely have made it with Swansea and be playing for them right now in pre-season friendlies," says the 24-year-old.
Instead he is the red-hot favourite to become European champion in the 400 metres hurdles having posted the five fastest times of the year in Europe and been the only athlete on the continent to have broken the 49-second barrier.
"I played for Swansea from the age of 12 until 17 when I just stopped enjoying it," he explains. "At the same time I was doing a bit of athletics, but not taking it too seriously. I made sure I enjoyed myself and made few sacrifices in life as a teenager, and this continued until university until I realised that the best athletes trained more than once a week."
As soon as Greene became focussed on the job, however, the dividends began to be paid, starting with the European Junior silver medal in 2005. Last year he finished 7th in the world championships final in Berlin and this year the Welshman has progressed so much that he is quite clearly the man to beat in Europe.
Does he regret the strange path taken to this point? "Well, I regret in one sense not having the maturity to deal with football," he admits. "I was small but I had a good footballing brain and I took some catching down the wing, but I had no knowledge about how to be a sportsman.
"That's why I'm such a late starter and I wouldn't change it for the world. I now possess a great work ethic because it's made me hungry to succeed, and it makes me angry to see so many other talented but lazy athletes around because they don't know what they are missing."
Greene, despite sporting no senior individual medals, is more than comfortable with his tag of hot favourite in Barcelona. "I'd rather be the fastest than the slowest," is his take. "I hope the others will be intimidated by my times this year.
"I'll be disappointed with anything other than the gold medal and European title. That's not putting pressure on myself. That's what I should be thinking. To say anything else, such as I'd be pleased with any colour of medal, is a cop-out. I've been waiting all season for this.
"Going to Barcelona as the fastest man and the favourite doesn't give me the gold medal, though. Winning the final does. There's work to be done, but I'm going to make sure I'll finish the job."
Football's loss does appear to be athletics' gain.
