Kicking On: How Footballers Win the Post-Retirement Game of Life

By Tony Rickson

Kicking On! How Footballers Win the Post-Retirement Game of Life takes an upbeat look at players who have retired from the game to forge successful, positive and interesting second careers.Retirement can be a traumatic time of life particularly if you' re in your mid-30s and football' s all you' ve ever known. Many retired players struggle to cope with that pivotal moment when they have to leave the game for good. There' s a heartbreaking trail of tales of those whose post-footballing lives have been sad or even tragic. But this book looks at the other side of the coin the players who have flourished after hanging up their boots.Whether it' s setting up charities, helping others cope with the challenges of life, creating multi-million-pound businesses, going into the media, politics, or back into football itself, there are more than 200 former players here with inspiring feel-good stories to share.Kicking On! is solid proof that a successful footballing career can be just the first chapter in a fulfilling life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Release date: Sep 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9781801506137

Book preview

1

Exciting Times Ahead

OUR LONG-SERVING professional is now 35 – young in life, but getting a bit ancient for football. Looking around the dressing room, there’s nothing the old pro doesn’t know about the team-mates in there. The names of their kids. Their favourite dinner. What car(s) they drive. What they like to watch on TV. They’ve spent many an hour together in this room, on top of all the coach and plane journeys they’ve shared, the meeting rooms they’ve sat in, the dining areas they’ve eaten in and the hotels they’ve slept in.

What’s constantly on the mind now is the word all footballers dread: retirement. It comes to everyone – even Sir Stanley Matthews, although he was 50 when he got there – and it’s common knowledge that the time to consider retiring from the game is just before the manager thinks about doing it for you. Even though our good old seasoned pro knows they’ll only be making way for someone with less experience and almost certainly less ability …

The law of averages says only one of the players in that dressing room will likely go on to make it as a manager. And quite probably not for too long if they ever get that far, as it’s not the most secure job around. It’s not a given that the best player goes on to be a successful manager. A whole new skill-set is required, starting most importantly with people management. There’s also tactical acumen, ability to make quick decisions, skills in dealing with the media, with staff and with the chief exec or whoever’s in charge of the club’s finances. Successful managers such as Arsène Wenger and José Mourinho – and, before them, double-winning Bertie Mee, who took on the top job after being the club physiotherapist at Arsenal – had no background as players themselves.

Look back at the England World Cup-winning team of 1966 – seven of them had a shot at management after retiring from playing, but only Jack Charlton and Alan Ball really made successful second careers out of it. Not for me, is the conclusion many ex-players reach. Another former England legend, Nat Lofthouse, was once quoted as saying, ‘I’ve been associated with Bolton Wanderers for 50 years. Forty-eight of them were happy. The other two I was manager!’

The opinionated one in the dressing room who’s always had the most to say may well continue in football after retirement as a pundit, commentator or journalist, with ever-widening opportunities to work in TV, radio, newspapers, podcasts and social media. On top of the traditional punditry that we enjoy in media coverage of football, former players branch out and diversify on the strength of their familiar faces. So Gary Lineker does presenting, makes adverts, and all sorts of other things; Peter Crouch gets his own prime time Saturday night TV entertainment show and a huge podcast; Gary Neville is busier than ever with all his various interests, including punditry, a university and a hotel; Ian Wright makes a serious documentary about domestic abuse; Alex Scott and Jermaine Jenas are seen by millions hosting The One Show.

Others will happily stay in the game, perhaps as coaches or working in a club’s academy. But that still means as many as half of any team will be thrown out in the cold with no more football, despite it having been the be-all and end-all of their adult life up till then.

Sadly, four in ten retired players are reckoned to suffer mental health problems. Depression, alcoholism, bad investments, bankruptcy, divorce, drug addiction, degenerative injuries, sometimes even prison or suicide. It’s a tragic list of some of the potential problems out there. From fame, riches, adulation, never having to think for yourself, to suddenly bereft of finding a point in a lonely life with no support network any longer.

Every player imagines they’re going to play for ever, according to the head of player welfare at the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), Michael Bennett. ‘It’s hard to think about life after sport when you’re in a constant battle to hold down a position,’ he said. ‘Players are told what to eat, when to eat, when to sleep, and then they’re suddenly left to completely fend for themselves and we expect them to cope.’

Just as well, then, that this book very much looks at the other side of the coin. Alongside players who chose management, coaching or media work, hundreds have found new challenges and learned new skills to go on to fulfilling and successful second careers. Tackling the post-football game of life head-on.

Look at the example of Norway international Claus Lundekvam, who was forced to retire in 2008 with an ankle injury at the age of 35. He’d played nearly 400 matches for Southampton but found he simply couldn’t cope with life after football. He later told the BBC in a moving interview:

I obviously took a few wrong turns and wrong decisions after my career. Looking back, I would strongly advise players to find something meaningful to get you up in the morning. Find something, work-wise, that you enjoy. For me, at the time, I had everything. I had a lot of money, a wonderful family, a great house. But I was depressed and I felt lonely. I felt that nobody needed me any more. That was the loss of the dressing room. The loss of performing every week with your team-mates. I found that very difficult. You are so dedicated to performing and running out to thousands of fans. You’re never going to replace that adrenaline kick with anything.

In retirement he became addicted to drink and drugs, his wife divorced him and he tried to take his own life. But Lundekvam eventually admitted the depth of his problems and enrolled at the Sporting Chance Clinic, which helps ex-sports players just when they need it most. His recovery wasn’t all plain sailing but he eventually turned his life around. Completely. He began working full-time with the Psychiatry Alliance in Norway, helping people who have struggled to put meaning back into their lives, through training and physical activity.

What a redemption, not only plumbing the very life-or-death depths before overcoming a severe problem, but then resetting yourself to help others marooned in a similar way.

Not every story in this book is as dramatic as the way Lundekvam had to turn everything around in his life but there’s a tremendous theme running through it of former players who have embarked on successful, rewarding, exciting second careers. Starting with a favourite example, which is in no way pants.

2

Sweet Charity

A PAINTER, a scientist, a sculptor, an inventor – and quite a few other things as well. If football internationals had been played in the 15th or 16th centuries, Leonardo da Vinci would surely have been captain of the Italy team. Apart from all those other varied talents, he was also a philosopher. And his words will resonate with many a retired footballer. ‘People of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.’

Performance psychologist Katie Warriner helps players prepare for life after retirement. She told theprofessionalplayer.com:

They often think, ‘If I’m no longer a footballer, then who am I?’ We try to show that it’s not a flaw to plan for life after football, but a big step forward. The strengths you have as a footballer – such as discipline, confidence and resilience – can help you excel in life.

So step forward Steve Harper. As if being Newcastle United’s longest-serving player ever wasn’t enough, the former goalkeeper became busier than ever after retiring from football at the age of 41. He graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with a master’s degree in sports directorship and also qualified as a football referee. Sticking with football, he worked in Newcastle’s academy and then became the club’s first-team goalkeeping coach as well as doing some occasional punditry work.

Beyond that, he and two friends set up an underwear company called Oddballs, which has been massively successful since its launch in 2014. The trio of mates were at a pub quiz when the discussion turned to ideas for a business venture. They wanted something that was going to prove a worthwhile investment but also had a charity element to it. So they came up with the idea of selling distinctive and unusual underwear and at the same time raising awareness of men’s cancer by giving a percentage from the sale of every pair of pants to testicular cancer charities.

And they’ve been as good as their word – in fact, probably exceeding their wildest dreams at the same time. Oddballs has become a very successful business and raised over three-quarters of a million pounds for charities. On top of colourful men’s and women’s underwear, they’ve added sportswear, clothing and accessories to their product list and set up partnerships with England football and rugby, as well as some of the biggest sporting bodies and teams across the world.

What a blueprint for a retired professional footballer. A great and innovative idea for a very successful business venture that also provides vital support for important charities. It was the playwright George Bernard Shaw who once put into words what Oddballs put into practice: ‘Don’t wait for the right opportunity. Create it!’

Meanwhile, many newly retired players have simply thrown themselves straight into charity efforts, often for very personal reasons.

It was only a year after packing up football in 2002 that England international Geoff Thomas was given the dreaded diagnosis that he had chronic myeloid leukaemia, a cancer of the white blood cells. The former Crystal Palace and Wolves midfielder was only 38 when he was told he might have just months to live. Thomas’s treatment included a stem cell transplant but he bravely made a remarkable recovery. His impressive response was to go all out to raise money for cancer charities, and his dedication was honoured by being awarded an MBE in recognition of the millions of pounds he’s raised.

Only two years after first being told about his cancer, Thomas judged himself fit enough to cycle the whole of the Tour de France route just days before the race itself. That was a challenging 2,200-mile journey and just the first of quite a few times that he rode the iconic and challenging course to raise money and awareness. On one of the occasions, his team was accompanied for two of the stages by another cancer survivor, former Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

Thomas told the BBC how simply tackling the route was a massive feat. ‘As a footballer there is a certain amount of skill involved, which you can get by on in 90 minutes. But in cycling it’s about sheer lungs and heart really.’

From Vitesse Arnhem in the Netherlands to Bayern Munich in Germany, and then Inter Milan in Italy. The 1993 UEFA Cup was a memorable adventure for Norwich City before Inter knocked them out. But that was after the drama of beating the mighty Bayern, with Jeremy Goss scoring in both home and away legs for Norwich. In retirement, and 18 years later, Goss retraced that Arnhem–Munich–Milan route with a 1,300-mile sponsored bike ride to all three stadiums that Norwich played in. It was to support and raise awareness of the Norfolk and Norwich Association for the Blind, raising £32,000, with Goss admitting that the ten-day challenge was a pretty tough ordeal. He retired from playing in 1999 at the age of 34 and continued with charity work as he became marketing communications manager at Age UK Norwich. He told The Sun:

It was a tough transition from being outside all day training, to being inside all day wearing a tie and sitting in front of a laptop. It’s a big culture shock, and mentally it’s tough to get your head round what you’re going to be doing on a daily basis.

Another retired footballer who got on his bike for charity, Sylvain Distin gave up playing after becoming the leading foreign outfield player for matches played in the Premier League. He appeared more than 200 times each for Manchester City and Everton, retiring at the age of 38. His charity cycling challenge in 2022 involved an 800-mile trip to St Tropez with a group of friends to raise money for the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. ‘I like to push myself and see what I’m capable of,’ said the modest Distin.

From two wheels to two legs. Former Southampton stalwart Francis Benali ran to every one of the 20 Premier League grounds in 2014 in a three-week challenge that raised a six-figure sum for Cancer Research. Two years later he ran and cycled to all 44 Premier League and Championship grounds in a fortnight, raising over £350,000 for the charity. And in 2019 he completed four Ironman swim-cycle-run triathlons on successive days on his way to raising £1 million. He told BBC Sport, ‘I became intrigued by ultra-endurance events following my playing career, and I wanted to put myself in a position where I would test myself physically and mentally beyond anything I’d experienced before.’

Benali has also done media work, football coaching and after-dinner speaking, and his various business interests include a football agency. But he admitted he struggled for a while after retiring at the age of 35:

While you’re in football, you’ve always got that goal of working towards a game, there’s always an aim to work towards. After retirement, I found it difficult to just go to the gym or go for a run in order to keep fit without having a real goal. It focuses your efforts when you’ve got something to work towards like one of the endurance challenges.

Benali was awarded an MBE in 2020 for his services to cancer charities.

One of just a few players who have won the Champions League with two different clubs (Ajax and then Manchester United), retired goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar had a special reason to set up a charitable foundation in his name after retiring in 2011. His wife had suffered a serious medical emergency a couple of years earlier, and their foundation helps people who have had brain injuries with rehabilitation and prevention of further problems. Particular attention is given to exercise, and Van der Sar practised what he preached when he completed the New York Marathon in 2012 – proving that goalkeepers can run a whole lot more than half a length of the pitch in one go. It took him just over four hours and he raised a huge amount of money for his charity.

His Dutch team-mate Arjen Robben beat that time when he ran the Rotterdam Marathon in 3 hours 13 minutes in 2022, three years after retiring from playing. His marathon debut was harder than any football match he’d ever played, according to Robben, who was a Champions League winner with Bayern Munich.

Going back to Van der Sar, he had a tremendous career with a record-breaking 130 appearances for the Netherlands and spent ten years in England, with Fulham and then Manchester United. Before that he played more than 200 times for Ajax, and later returned to his old club as its chief executive officer. ‘All good things come to an end,’ he told FIFA.com on his retirement. ‘I’ve had a great career, winning titles in Holland and England. The first thing I’m going to do is to try and get away from football for a little bit, because I think life after it can be enjoyable as well.’

Love that Van der Sar ‘thinks’ life can be enjoyable after football. Of course it can. Millions of us would have loved the chance to walk in his shoes, if only for a season or two, and then tackle the challenge of coping with life afterwards.

3

Lights, Camera, Action

‘I HOPE now to enjoy all the things I never stopped to notice while I was playing.’ The retired footballer who said that might have been thinking about trying to become a film or TV star – or even an extra, playing football in the back of a shot while the important actors are centre stage revealing the plot. There’s stuff in common between making a film and playing football. There’s the camaraderie built up between those taking part, the striving to be the very best at what they do, and the intense plotting and planning by the manager/ director of how something is about to happen. And lots of hanging about before anything does.

Vinnie Jones tells a great story about his apparently seamless move from football to acting. For the film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, the producers were looking for someone who could play a tough-guy debt collector called Big Chris. The notes for the part said: ‘Very cool. An aura about him. Respected, but you wouldn’t want to cross this man. If he loses it, he loses it – similar to Vinnie Jones, the footballer.’ Then it dawned on them. Instead of getting someone like Vinnie Jones, why not ask the man himself? The film’s writer and director, Guy Ritchie, had seen Vinnie in a walk-on part in a TV programme and was convinced he could do it. And so began a hugely successful second career for tough guy Jones.

Somewhat predictably called Vinnie, his autobiography revealed what the world of film-acting was really like. ‘I was standing around all day and acting for about five minutes, but I really enjoyed it. It gave me the taste for more, but only if it’s big time.’ And big time is what he got. He’s appeared in Snatch, Gone in 60 Seconds, X-Men: The Last Stand and many other films. Invariably he was some sort of hard man – not a lot of rom-coms then. Co-stars have included Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Travolta, Brad Pitt and Jason Statham. Two of his films were a bit of a walk in the park for Vinnie as they had football themes. In the 2001 film Mean Machine he was a prisoner who had to turn a team of fellow convicts into a winning football team, and he also played a tough coach in She’s the Man about a girl who takes her brother’s place in the school team.

Jones has also dabbled in TV, appearing on Celebrity Big Brother and in the Australian version of The Masked Singer, but his film career carried on throughout and lasted a lot longer than his