NETBUSTER TO DUSTBUSTER

McNulty's still a tidy finisher with Spartans while his cleaning business is mopping up

- BY FRASER WILSON

AN assist from former Dundee United teammate Dylan Levitt changed Marc McNulty's career in a way he could never have imagined.

For years, the striker's ability to clean up in front of goal was what paid the bills.

But now it's mopping up living-rooms, kitchens, offices and building sites.

And for that he has Levitt to thank.

McNulty is still banging in the goals at the age of 33 for Spartans in League Two.

But why is a player who won two Scotland caps and a £1million move to Reading not so long ago now playing in the bottom rung of the SPFL while bothering about the cleanliness of premises across Edinburgh?

The question leads the man known as Sparky on a wild, meandering tale from Reading to California, Sydney and back home to Scotland's capital.

And that call from Levitt.

McNulty told MailSport: "It's a bit of a mad one this, to be honest.

"I have a business, Premier Cleaning, that's been doing really well and that's why I decided to stop playing full-time.

"I set it up with my best mate Ross Gray - who is assistant manager at Bonnyrigg Rose - a couple of years ago.

"It just sort of fell into my lap. How? I played with Dylan at Dundee United and when he moved to Hibs he was looking for a cleaner.

"My mum Joyce worked as a carer but she had previously worked in cleaning jobs.

"I got my mum to do it for Dylan and before you know it, another player wanted done and another player.

"Suddenly you think: 'We might have something going on here'.

"We just thought, let's just move mum from being a carer to a cleaner... and we've never looked back.

"We're trying to get her off the tools now. She's more a supervisor.

"But it's just snowballed into a fully-functioning business with 15 employees.

"We do everything - residential, commercial, building sites, houses, restaurants, bars, office blocks...