Do we have to stick to football?
- calebwatts007
- Apr 30, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: May 2, 2024
Are we ready to accept athletes who want to do more than play sport?
An average day at a professional football club starts at 9AM and finishes by 2PM. Footballers have a huge amount of time they can spend pursuing avenues other than football – so why do we not hear about more of them pursuing secondary careers away from the game? Would it improve careers and performance if more did?
The general attitude towards footballers is, although slowly evolving, that they should focus on football and football only, and when they experience a dip in form it is because they are no longer spending enough time focusing on the game. Multipotentialities is a non-starter when it comes to our athletes, and to find evidence of this you need not look far.
The criticism around Jesse Lingard’s brand and his involvement in it’s promotion, especially in periods of bad form is one example. The political derision surrounding Marcus Rashford and his activism during COVID, despite the huge number of people he helped, is another. ***
Gareth Bale even felt the need to publicly diminish how much golf he played because of the negative coverage he was getting in his final few years at Real Madrid.
When a player who doesn’t fit the mould of being a ‘focused footballer’ (ie somebody who appears to only play football and not spend their time on anything else) finds themselves out of form, the narrative that usually follows is that ‘their head is no longer on the game’ or that they need to (in former Manchester United defender Paul Parker’s words) ‘wake up and remember he’s a footballer rather than thinking he’s a politician’. No prizes for guessing who he’s talking about there.
“Focus on football – not politics.” – Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell addressing Tyrone Mings (England international) after he hit out at Priti Patel for ‘stoking the fire’ around racist abuse of players at the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament. ***
Even elected MPs, those who are meant to be looked toward to guide our society forward, have no issue in telling players publicly exactly what conversations and topics that their input isn’t welcome in.
Players who focus only on football have reasons for doing so. It’s a hugely demanding career, both physically and mentally and is often relied on to financially provide for a player and their family. Using all of one’s energy to get everything they can out of the career which is (usually) the one that has the greatest earning potential is the rational decision. Surely?
However, in many cases this attitude can be short-sighted and limiting to personal and professional development.
On average, a professional footballer will be paid to play football for eight years of their life. The lucky and most dedicated will manage to eke out maybe double that; the extraordinary manage to tack on a few more years on top. For most of those years, as I’ve already mentioned, they will be home by 2PM for at least four of the five weekdays. That’s a lot of free hours. Hours that could be spent doing any number of things to prepare for retirement, or even to simply find enjoyment off the pitch.
When players find themselves out of contract, form or injured – the stress of the situation can be extremely debilitating – especially because of the absence of a ‘fall back plan’ that is so commonly the case. The stakes and pressure on performance are raised significantly when there is no certainty, especially financially, for a player if his income from football were to suddenly disappear.
Personally, throughout the toughest moments in my career, having an alternative pursuit is what has pulled me back from the abyss. Injury struggles, of which I’m no stranger to, have a profound effect on an athlete’s mental health. Studies have shown a close link between injury, depression, substance misuse and anxiety. ** Not being able to do what you are paid to do because of a situation that is not immediately in your control is a hard thing to reconcile – but the presence of something else to excel in, whether that's another skill or business, can give you the positive feelings that come with accomplishment. I have found this invaluable, and I'm certainly not the first footballer to struggle mentally with injury and things not going the way I want them to.
Rob Blackburne is an athlete mentor to a multitude of professional football players ranging from the Premier League to the National League. He’s also the owner of Elite Inner Performance, a mentoring business aimed at improving sports performance by strengthening the mind. Former Arsenal player Jack Wilshere, Sunderland’s Luke O’Nien, and Wrexham’s Elliot Lee are all people who credit him with making big differences in their lives.
When I asked him about the pitfalls of having too much uncertainty in a footballer’s personal life, he said –
“I think it does massively affect stress. For footballers, the main driver is certainty. I find off the pitch problems often manifest to on the pitch problems.”
After thousands of hours of individual sessions with professional footballers, one of Rob’s driving philosophies is around the players' thirst for certainty. In an unstable industry – turbulence in one’s personal life often means that performance is the next thing to suffer. Certainty comes in many forms - financial; personal relationships; geographical and any number of other aspects I’ve failed to mention. In a career where income and ‘usefulness’ can vanish through something as random as a horror tackle or a manager you fall out of favour with – the search for stability is hugely important for one’s ability to be content personally. Having other interests to focus on when life on the pitch is going badly, or even alternative income to take some pressure off performance can be a lifeline. Instead of hindering performance – these things help.
Happiness off the pitch = Performance on the pitch.
Who would’ve thought?
The myth that athletes need to spend every waking hour on their craft is one that has persevered despite the evidence, literally staring us in our face, to the contrary. LeBron James, one of the greatest basketballers to ever walk the earth, has business stakes in Fenway Sports Group, Beats Electronics and Blaze Pizza. He often stars on podcasts and TV and is a frequent host on ‘The Shop’ - a TV series where conversations and debates are held in a Barber Shop. Former guests include Barack Obama, Jay-Z and even England’s very own Marcus Rashford. This all happens while he continues to perform at the top of the sport into his late thirties, and at thirty-nine years old is showing no real signs of slowing down.
We have an active case study of what happens when top-level athletes take part in activities outside of their sport. They thrive. When LeBron inevitably experiences a dip in form, the media don’t rush to condemn him as distracted or no longer passionate about the game.
Because that would be stupid.
More avenues for footballers to find fulfilment and certainty in their lives away from the game are opening. The Professional Footballers Association funds players taking part in coaching badges and business courses as well as committing to pay for 50% of the costs of an Open University course of the player’s choice. Platforms like LAPS (Life After Professional Sport) help find former athletes' jobs in different industries by putting them in contact with companies who value them for their unique skillsets. Many of the skills that are required to reach the peaks of professional football are immediately transferable to the corporate and business worlds.
Those who find success in other industries inspire their peers to do the same. The more footballers who walk outside the lines and succeed, the less resistance those who want to follow will face.
Reece Wabara, a former England U20 international, has built a hugely successful clothing brand in Maniere De Voir which Forbes reported has earned over 23.7 million GDP in revenue without outside capital. He retired in 2017, aged 25, to focus his efforts on the brand. Former Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini is a co-founder of Biochemical company ‘BF Biochemicals’ which is now estimated to be worth 21 billion pounds.
More recently, Everton and Nigeria international Alex Iwobi teased the summer release of a music project which will feature other professional players. The response to this announcement, which happened on Kiss FM, has been largely positive which is perhaps a signal of an overdue shift in attitude.
The potential within professional athletes to be successful and contribute to society beyond the domains of sport is real. They have more to offer than what they do on the pitch. Freedom from scrutiny to step outside the boxes they’ve been placed in to explore this potential can only be a good thing.
We want our athletes to lead rounded lives and to have prospects post-career. Happiness and fulfilment translate directly into better performance.
So, if you ever feel the urge to blame a dip in form on a ‘mind on other things’, or a burning irritation that a footballer is doing anything that isn’t kicking a ball around a pitch – stop. It might actually just be helping them do their job. And, even if it isn’t, forming an identity outside of their short-term career probably isn’t the end of the world.
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