This summer we have been blessed by the proverbial footballing feast that has been on offer. A European Championships, an Olympics on home soil and now we find ourselves just a couple of weeks away from the start of a new season.
We have been well and truly spoilt for football recently and this makes it easy to forget the gulf that is normally left during the summer months. But any withdraw symptoms we may normally suffer from the end of May to mid-August are nothing compared to the void that a professional must feel, when needing to find something else to do from his late 30’s onwards.
That last line should really read ‘late 30’s if you’re lucky’. Because 31 year old Ledley King and numerous other players across the country will have retired at the end of last season and will now have a pretty big void to fill.
After a career of playing football in front of thousands and the adrenaline rush that accompanies that, having to wake up one day without that high to look forward to can take some serious adjustment. More and more former football players (as well as athletes from other sports) struggle to deal with this loss and cannot find a substitute that makes them feel the same way as competing did. This, for many, can result in problems with depression.
One example of this would be former Norwich City and Leicester City striker Darren Eadie. The former England Under-21 international was forced to retire through injury at the tender age of 28. He has recently spoken publicly about his own problems with depression that led to him suffering up to three panic attacks each day. Currently trying to overcome his own tribulations, Eadie has begun working with his own charity website called 'Sellebrity'. Where unwanted items from various celebrities are auctioned off for a number of charities.
Charitable work such as this is one way for a retired footballer to use his or her time positively, whilst also filling the gaping hole that retirement has left in their schedule. But, much more commonly, coaching or management is the logical next step for a former player.
The beauty part of moving into coaching for a player is that he gets to keep his routine. One of the first times that a player will notice a change in his life is when all of his former colleagues start to report back for pre-season training and all of a sudden he doesn’t have to any more. A football player can find it difficult when his routine stops, he no longer has to get up at a certain time or drive to the training ground for training. Being a coach goes a long way towards keeping a former player in touch with the game and the team atmosphere.
Whilst it doesn’t replicate playing there is something rewarding about having success via a player that you are coaching. And it’s more rewarding still to manage a team to victory. Managing keeps players in touch with some of the key points of football; working on the training pitch day to day with the team and providing an avenue to be competitive. It’s easy to see why coaching is so popular, despite its stresses.
With Sky’s football coverage growing in size seemingly with every game there has never been more opportunity for a former player to move into the world of TV. Some, like Sky Sports’ Chris Kamara, are better known now as pundits than they were as players. A whole generation of fans know Gary Lineker as a TV presenter and a Crisp salesman rather than a legendary England striker.
Jamie Redknapp and Gary Neville are now mainstays of Sky’s Premier League coverage and they, as well as many others, have shown that TV is now a viable option. A player’s football career may be over but a very different yet similarly enjoyable one in the TV studio could be possible.
And if they don’t want to present or report, then they can follow such luminaries as Peter Schmeichel and Robbie Savage. Going down the reality TV route and becoming a champion on ‘Strictly X-Factor on Ice’ or something similar!
I’m sure none of us would mind football coaching or TV work as a second career. But most people aren’t fortunate enough to have either of these as their first choice, let alone something to fall back on after retirement.
For many players who didn’t play in an era when wages were exorbitant, or for those who want a move away from the beautiful game- a normal job beckons. Former Southampton, Blackburn Rovers and England winger Stuart Ripley is now a sports lawyer.
Although a normal job away from football doesn’t really need to be that ‘normal’. Did you know that Dion Dublin has designed a drum?
If you already know this story then I don’t really have much to add to it. But, if you’ve never heard this before then yes, Dion Dublin has designed a drum. Known as the Dube, it is essentially a box that you bang with your hand to create a beat. They’re available online in a variety of sizes and colours.
Dion Dublin’s Dube proves that the options are literally limitless for a former footballer. A former pro can try his hand at anything, in or out of the game. But most find that while they may genuinely enjoy what they do with the rest of their working life, nothing will ever quite recreate being a professional footballer and everything that goes along with it.
A recent series of BBC documentaries has highlighted the fact that depression can affect anyone and that sports men and women are not immune to it because they have a nice job. More care needs to be taken of them, especially once they lose the game they love. The avenues are there, as shown, to have a life after football. Some seem to find that easier than others, but all are capable of it. Best of luck to each and everyone of them.