Retirement of Football Players

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The retirement of a football player marks the end of the player’s career in the professional football scene. In most cases, it is a personal decision made by the player. Upon retirement, the player no longer plays at a professional level for both football team (if the player was apart of one during retirement) and country.

Brian Ching speaking to the audience after his testimonial game

Background

Retirement is an option that many football players are faced with very early into their lives. It marks the end of a player’s journey through their professional football career and relieves them of their service to their club if they were a part of one during the retirement process. In some cases, mainly applying to the best football players, the said player may represent both a club and country. In occasions such as these, it is not uncommon that the player retires from international football, but still continues playing at a professional level with a club. Recent examples of situations like these include Arsenal playmaker Mesut Özil retiring from the Germany National Football Team in July, 2018.. Another example is Lionel Messi announcing his retirement from the Argentina national football team after the 2016 FIFA World Cup.

While all football players journey through relatively similar experiences throughout their careers, the conditions that football players retire in often differ greatly amongst the various levels of football. Some controversies that have surfaced over the last couple years include the very noticeable wage gap difference between football players playing in the top division leagues compared to those playing in lower division leagues.

Age of retirement

Compared to other sports and occupations, a career in the professional football scene is generally shorter than other professions on average. Studies show that the average retirement age for football players is roughly 32.5 five years old, approximately half of the average retirement age globally. However, it is not uncommon that players retire before or after this age. For example, the oldest player to ever take part in a professional football match was Isaak Hayik, an Israeli goalkeeper who was seventy-three years old at the time of his retirement. Statistics show that football players generally peak between the age of 25-27, it is during this period that the player is “stellar” and performing at his/her best. However, players in different positions enter and leave their peak at different ages, wingers and wide attackers in under-23 teams for example, have more minutes of play time on average compared to football players that play in other positions. On average, forward players peak at 25 years old, defenders at 27 years old, while midfielders vary between the general average of 25-27 years old.

Reasons for retirement

Football is a vigorous sport, especially in the professional scene. It requires players to be at the best of their capabilities both physically and mentally. However, these strenuous demands are only met within a limited time frame of a player’s age. One of the most common reasons behind why football players retire is their lack of physical and mental ability to keep up with the intense pace of the professional game. After football players have passed the peak performance age, the physical capabilities of football players such as strength, speed, stamina, etc. dramatically depreciate. From there on, elder football players are unable to meet the physical demands required by the professional gameplay, leaving them with very little play time on the field. Eventually, they are left with no other option than to retire from the game. Although only a matter of years apart from their peak, the diminished physicality of players is very apparent in professional games, especially in top-tier leagues where impeccable gameplay is highly required from football players. Other reasons include fatal injuries that render the physical bodies of football players inept for professional gameplay.

Testimonial match

A testimonial match or testimonial game is referred to as a match hosted by a retiring player’s club to honour the player’s service to the club. In most scenarios, these matches are friendly and non-competitive. The original purposes of testimonial matches were to raise money for the retiring player as a retirement income. In most cases, clubs generally organise testimonial matches for players after they have reached ten years of service towards the club. Although wages in the professional football scene have increased dramatically over the years, some clubs still proceed with the practice as an honourable gesture towards the player. A common trend that has gained popularity over the years involves retiring players donating a part of or all of their testimonial match proceeds to a charity organisation. An example of such includes Wayne Rooney donating all of the proceeds from his testimonial match (£1.2 million) to a charity organisation.

Careers after retirement

Due to the fact that most players retire at a relatively early age, many are prompted to enter different or even similar careers to fund their living. Common career paths for retiring football players include: coaching staff, pundit, public figure, personal business, etc . However, it is not uncommon that retiring players face difficulties in entering careers outside the sport. This is often due to the fact that most professional players dedicate a majority of their time as a teenager practicing to become a professional football player instead of studying or educating themselves for a more common career path. As a result, retiring players are more prone to entering careers more related to the sport, such as coaching staff. Many of the successful managers today for example, were originally players of the game

Coaching staff

Although many retiring players are no longer physically fit to play professionally on the field, their wide knowledge and immense experience of the game can prove valuable for football players who are still actively playing at a professional level. This is why many retiring players often resort to a career in the football coaching scene. Depending on their knowledge on the game, some may go on to become world class managers, managing players in some of the best clubs or countries, while others may just manage junior teams or become coaching staff members. Examples of successful managers who were once players include: Pep Guardiola, Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps, Franz Beckenbauer, Jupp Heynckes, Carlo Ancelotti, and many more. Pep Guardiola for instance, now manages Manchester City F.C., whom recently won the 2018–19 Premier League, narrowly beating Liverpool F.C. to the title by just 1 point. As a football player, Guardiola was best known for his performance in FC Barcelona under coach Johan Cruyff, making his Barcelona debut in 1990 before finally retiring and beginning his managerial career as FC Barcelona B's coach in 2007. Eventually, Guardiola was appointed first team coach in 2008, where he went on to win 14 trophies in 4 seasons, with 6 alone in 2009, making him the club's most successful coach ever.

Media

Other common career paths include becoming a pundit. Pundit refers to a person with great knowledge or experience in a subject, hence why retired football players have a natural talent in being able to analyse and discuss gameplay for media platforms such as commentating. Notable examples of retired players who have pursued careers in this industry include Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Jamie Carragher, Alan Shearer, Roy Keane, and many more that have significantly elevated the standards of football commentating and analysis.

Business

Football players who amassed a great deal of wealth throughout their professional football career, have in many cases, invested their wealth in business start-ups such as clothing brands, restaurants, and many other prospects. Rio Ferdinand for example, has started his own online sport and lifestyle magazine, in addition to his own clothing range and Italian restaurant. Another retired player who pursued a similar path after retirement is David Beckham, a former Manchester United F.C., Real Madrid CF, LA Galaxy, and England national football team legend. In 2018, the former midfielder announced his plan to launch his own football team in Miami, Florida, which is set to play in the Major League Soccer.

Others careers

Aside from football related careers, many retiring players also resort to more common jobs. The Professional Footballers' Association for example, assists retiring players in the process of adapting to their new life, by providing a series of education and qualification courses that help retired football players transition in more common careers such as surgeons, scientists, teachers, lawyers, accountants, etc. David Hillier for instance, a former Arsenal F.C. midfielder, has moved on from his retirement from professional football and is now a firefighter.

Jersey numbers

In most scenarios, the jersey numbers (also known as Squad number (association football)) of retiring players are passed onto an existing or oncoming player of the club. Jersey numbers often represent the position that a football player normally plays in, thus, the number of a retiring football player will most likely be passed onto another player who plays in a similar position with the retiring player. In special occasions, a club may honour a retiring player by retiring the jersey number of the player as well, meaning that this specific jersey number will no longer be used for future or current players of the club. There are multiple reasons why a club may do the following, the most common reason being that the player has done a great deal of service for the club, thus, this is the club’s way of thanking the player. Other common reasons include honouring players who died while still actively apart of the club, such as those of Patrick Ekeng, Bernardo Ribeiro, and many others.

Retirement related issues

Employment

Although well past the average employment age, many retiring football players fail to enter a career or profession outside the sport. This is due to the fact that the majority of professional footballers have been training all their lives for the very purpose of competing in the professional football scene, which doesn't last very long compared to other careers. In many cases, little consideration and thought is put towards what they will do after they retire, which is an issue many retiring football players are faced with today. Especially with the elite football players, many of whom did not complete university since they sign contracts as young as 17 years old. Upon retiring, their lack of educational background and almost non-existent regular work history leaves them with only a handful of career options. Although a common perception is that football players have ridiculously high salaries, many fail to note that the average span of a football player's professional career is only 8 years, causing the wealth they accumulated over these years to slowly run out over the course of the rest of their life.

Health

Retiring from the professional scene of any sport has always been recognised as a major phycological stressor that negatively impacts the mental health of many athletes. Common mental health problems in retired football players include anxiety and depression, studies show that these problems are associated with injury-caused retirement such as chronic pain. Mental health problems have also been identified as a contributor towards, increased alcohol consumption and disturbances in sleep patterns and quality. Evidence also shows that retiring professional athletes are more exposed to the risks of depressive symptoms that follow with retirement, especially involuntary retirement.

In addition to mental health problems, retired football players also face physical health issues, such as Osteoarthritis, a condition that generally affects the entire joint in a body, including bone, cartilage, ligament, and muscle. Data collected from retired football players younger than 45 years old who experience Osteoarthritis show that approximately 17% experience Osteoarthritis on their ankles, while a greater 80% experience it on their knees. The negative impacts that Osteoarthritis have on the lives of retired football players include significantly lower levels of health-related quality of life, and difficulties in mobility and performing everyday activities. Moreover, evidence also indicates that physical issues such as these are correlated with depressive symptoms that many retired football players are prone to experiencing.

Finance

Despite earning substantial weekly salaries, many retired football players fail to adequately manage their wealth after retirement. In some cases, retired football players experience severe financial difficulties after retirement, such as filing for bankruptcy which the likes of David James, Lee Hendrie, Keith Gillespie, and Eric Djemba-Djemba have done in the past.

References

This article "Retirement of Football Players" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Retirement of Football Players. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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