What pro footballers do when they retire

What pro footballers do when they retire

Many people think that footballers are grossly overpaid, and while that is arguably true for the top-level players, it is understandable when considering how long a football career is.

The average outfield player will have a fifteen-year long career and so when they retire from football, they need to explore other avenues of making money. Some footballers move straight into a job revolving around football while others leave the sport entirely, with many becoming the faces of well-known brands and gambling companies.

Here is a list of various sectors that pro footballers get employed in after their playing retirement, with several interesting examples.



Football manager or coach

The most obvious choice of next job for an ex footballer is a football manager. This makes sense as players will have great knowledge of the game and tactical understanding, especially when they get lots of experience, but also because they know what it is like to be managed.

Generally, players go through the coaching pathway provided by the Footballing Association, but many foreign players move into management as well. Pep Guardiola was captain for Barcelona for four years and has now become possibly the best manager in the world.

Players often also stay on at their club but in a coaching role. For example, Arsenal’s coaching team includes Per Mertesacker who retired only a few years ago, Freddie Ljunberg who has not played for a long time and even Mikel Arteta, the manager, finished his career at Arsenal .

Another interesting case of players retiring but finding a job in competitive football is that of the Class of ’92: Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, and Nicky * bought Salford City in 2014, and are hoping to get the semi-professional side promoted with their expertise.

Media

Although some footballers attempt a managerial career and then fall back on media, sport media is dominated by ex-athletes. With the start of the Premier League in the early nineties, football’s coverage in media increased massively.

Ex-players are often invited on shows as professional pundits, and while some make it their full time job, a lot will appear occasionally on our televisions. Alan Shearer and Ian Wright have proven to be very good pundits, as have Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher, with their banter and ‘frenemy’ relationship adding a lot to the general dynamic of the shows they appear on.

Footballers also become presenters. The best example of this is Gary Lineker. One of England’s great strikers, he has since cemented himself as the presenter of Match of the Day. Contrarily to others, he was considering moving into the media when he was still in twenties! He has been a very good presenter, with his highlight probably presenting Match of the Day in his boxers after Leicester won the league.

It must be said that it is a lot easier for the elite of football to move into media than the less recognisable faces. Some players write sport columns or write for sport newspapers instead.

Ex pro footballers often pick up the pen when their career is over, providing interesting insight into their lives. Peter Crouch, a great example of an ex footballer getting gotten his own podcast through his charisma and wit, wrote “How not to be a professional footballer”. Readers love the inside stories from the changing room and the team bus, and Crouchy has been very successful since leaving football.

Investment

Lots of footballers become investors in different ventures. Mathieu Flamini has millions invested into the development of alternative energy sources and has convinced some Arsenal teammates to invest with him. Some of them have impressive business acumen, and they are very good investors because they tend to have great cash flow.

All jobs

Because of how many footballers there are and how non lucrative it is for the lower leagues, there are ex pro footballers in virtually every job imaginable.

Stuart Ripley won the league with Blackburn Rovers and then became a successful solicitor and lecturer.

If you visit Holland and get arrested, you might recognise the policeman arresting you as Arjan de Zeeuw. De Zeeuw won the League Cup with Wigan Athletic in that famous final against Manchester City, and then went to the Netherlands for his police academy training.

Tom Finney is often considered one of the best footballers who has ever played. Although some youngsters will not know who he is, he has massively influenced football in England and he used to glide past players. When he stopped playing football, he built up his plumbing company in the North West of England.