There is a popular saying in the world of professional football: You’re a long time retired. It’s true. Most professional footballers will retire in their late 30s with more than half of their lives remaining. How do elite-level footballers fill the void after hanging up their boots?
The reality is that retired footballers will go in many different directions when they leave the dressing room for the last time. Some will be passionate about remaining in the sport to coach and develop the next generation of footballers like Levi Colwill. Meanwhile, others will look to pursue other interests and passions now that the final whistle has been blown on their footballing chapter.
Coaching and management
For many retired footballers, the sport is all they know. They’ve come through the academies at professional clubs, played football for all their young adult life and mastered the ins and outs of the game. For those who eat, sleep and breathe football, it makes perfect sense for these retirees to stick around and head into coaching and even team management.
In fact, most football managers are former players. Only a few elite-level managers have secured jobs without long-standing football careers. Arsenal legend Arsene Wenger is one such individual who only made 11 appearances professionally before studying for a manager’s diploma. Looking at the current crop of retired English footballers, the likes of Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard have made the step up into management. Rooney has already managed some big clubs in the shape of Derby County, DC United and is now at Birmingham City.
Football punditry
Many retired footballers were some of the biggest personalities in the sport during their prime. Contrary to popular belief, there’s plenty of eloquent footballers too. That’s why retired players increasingly go into football punditry with major broadcasters and radio stations, providing invaluable insights and opinions on games and players.
Former Manchester United captain, Roy Keane, is one such retiree who’s transcended coaching, management and punditry. His hard-hitting opinions always grab the headlines. Fellow Manchester United team-mate, Gary Neville, is another successful pundit from the modern-day era of retired footballers. He too has dabbled – albeit unsuccessfully – in management.
Other competitive pursuits
It can be hard for retired footballers to find something that quenches their thirst for competition. For the best part of two decades, professional footballers train hard to be the best they can be, both individually and collectively. When retirement hits, many footballers look for something to fill the void and give them a fresh purpose and perspective.
Most English football fans of a certain age will remember ball-winning midfielder, Vinnie Jones. The hard-hitting Welshman was part of the so-called ‘Crazy Gang’ at Wimbledon FC in the 1990s. After retirement, Jones dabbled in WWF wrestling before being lured to the big screen. You don’t get much more competitive industries than the Hollywood movie scene, but Jones bridged the gap, even taking a role in Madagascar 3.
Some retired footballers have also tried their hand at competitive card games like poker. For those looking to replicate the thrill of head-to-head competition, poker ticks all the right boxes. The likes of Teddy Sheringham, Tony Cascarino, Jan Molby and Gerard Pique have all embraced the game of Texas Hold’em poker, competing in some of the biggest events in Europe. Today, there’s huge poker events hosted both online and offline. The wealth of payment methods supported by the leading online poker rooms also makes it easier for people like retired footballers to deposit and withdraw their funds securely and quickly.
Entrepreneurship
Some retired footballers also use the wealth generated from their sporting careers to go into the world of business. There are certain footballers who have developed their own personal brands off the pitch. Former England international David Beckham is one such individual. He’s involved with all kinds of industries, including clothing, beverages, fragrances and more. Beckham’s even taken to football club ownership, with MLS franchise Inter Miami under his control.
There’s also a fascinating story of a professional footballer who retired young and has gone on to develop an ecommerce business that’s delivered him wealth far beyond the earnings he could have achieved in football. Reece Wabara is a former Manchester United academy graduate who failed to establish himself at the highest level. Wabara eventually retired in 2017 to focus on his own clothing brand, Maniere De Voir, which he established in 2013. The brand is now said to be worth upwards of $150 million!