What Is The Life Of A Former Pro Footballer Like?

It’s quite interesting to look into what the former pro football players are up to these days. Their new career choices vary between taxi drivers, business owners, and adult movie stars. Expect the unexpected, and check out what is the life of a former pro footballer like!

You Would Have Never Guessed!

The icon of Plymouth, Tommy Tynan, switched the soccer ball to pedals because the former football player is now a taxi driver. While Rafael van der Vaart became a darts player, Tim Wiese chose to be a bodybuilder and wrestler. The very bright Thomas Graveson became a card player, then amassed a fortune of over one hundred million dollars in Las Vegas as an investor.

However, he is nowhere near Mathieu Flamini, who ended up a billionaire at the end of his football career through his oil company. These are only some of the most interesting stories of what is the life of a former pro footballer like! Scroll down for more!

What is the Life of a Former Pro Footballer Like?

You wouldn’t have guessed how these pro footballers live now! Jonathan De Falco has the most shocking career path of them all. He decided to enter the adult movie industry as Stany Falcone. At the age of 24, Davide Iovinella quit pro football and followed in De Falco’s footsteps to become an adult movie actor.

Not long ago, Benoit Assou-Ekotto played in the Premier League, but rumor has it he left it behind for the same reasons Franco and Iovinella did. 

Even ex-Arsenal star Johan Djourou shot a 16+ scene with his wife. Danny Mountain set the example, as after a severe injury, he was looking for a quieter profession and has already earned millions of dollars with his films. Karim Benzema also tried his hand as an amateur producer, but he missed out on a championship title due to the film rights! Though, let’s not forget that 60% of Premier League professionals go bankrupt after retirement.

Less Shocking Career Choices 

Oliver Kahn is a coach and commentator who sells his own sports goods, while the former player of Schalke and Mainz, Andrea Pirlo, became a winemaker. Christian Fuchs teaches football online, has his online shop, and also has an e-sport club.

Philipp Lahm has been working in the food industry since 2018, and his fans may look for his products with green stripes in a German supermarket chain. Norwegian Björn Gulden, born in 1954, made it as far as 1. FC Nürnberg as a player, but today, he is the boss at Adidas.

Gulden also worked for Puma. By the way, three of his sons have also become footballers, which is no coincidence because his father was a member of the Norwegian national team as well. Craig Johnson, who played for Liverpool between 1981 and 1988, after his retirement, created a TV show and a computer program that allows you to track what is sold out of the minibars. Well, a professional athlete travels a lot.

After that, he invested his money in a football school, and as a direct result of which, he went broke and became homeless for a while. He found solace in photography.

Kenny Sanson’s life played out similarly. Among others, he played for Arsenal, in the English national team 86 times, and competed in two World Cups and two continental tournaments. However, he has been swindled out of his wealth and has become homeless and an alcoholic. He seems to lose his battle with alcohol and had been diagnosed with an early form of dementia years ago. Click on this link and read about other soccer players who struggled with addiction!

What is the Life of a Former Pro Footballer Like?

You would be surprised at what is the life of a former pro footballer like! Not everyone can be as successful as the 1998 world champion Stephane Guivarc’h, who sells swimming pools, or Claudio Caniggia, who became a real estate guru. Georgean Kaha Kaladze played as center-back, left-back, and wide midfielder. They chose him for the Georgian Footballer of the Year in 2001. Since he retired from professional football, he has had a successful political career. 

According to online gambling sites in the UK, he was the Minister of Energy for a while and is currently the Mayor of Tbilisi. He might even follow in the footsteps of the great former Paris Saint-Germain player George Weah, who became the President of Liberia!

However, the list goes on and on. For instance, Sol Campbell, Gianni Rivera, Zico Lilian Thuram, Roman Kosecki, etc., have also tried their hands at politics. By the way, the Prime minister of Faroe Island, Kaj Leo Johannesen, was also a football player before.

What Do They Do Now?

Marcell Jansen owns restaurants and sells sportswear and health products. Clarence Seedorf also has restaurants in France and Italy, while Edgar Davids works in the fashion industry. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is in just about everything.

Though his sports brand A-Z has failed, his books, perfumes, and mobile games, on the other hand, sell well. He even became part owner of the Swedish club Hammerby. Check out 22BET Sportsbook for his team’s odds! Marlon Harewood and Andy Cole, who played in several PL clubs, create unique, personalized cars.

Steve Howards’s company helps celebrities invest their money, and Louis Saha’s firm does the same. Rio Ferdinand did not receive a license for his boxing career, so he can focus on his music publishing company, as well as his restaurants and clothing business.

The former striker Dion Dublin developed a unique loudspeaker, the Dube, while the unrecognizable Lee Bowyer became a pond owner specializing in carp in France. Some of them have average jobs, like Sami Mahlio, who ended up in the construction industry, or Teuvo Moilanen, who works as a teacher and coach.

The ex-Nigerian player John Chiedozie deals with air castles for children’s birthday parties. Ex-Chelsea captain Gavin Peacock is now a pastor in Canada, while Ken Monkou bakes pancakes near Rotterdam. Belgian defender Philippe Albert became a vegetable and fruit merchant.

Shaun Goater has one of the most unexpected jobs: he organizes trips to Bermuda. Similar to Vagyim Yevtusenko, who worked in a travel agency in Switzerland. Ballon d’Or winner Igor Bjelanov is a businessman and also has a football school.

What is the Life of a Former Pro Footballer Like?

Stefan Müller played in Freiburg between 1993 and 2005, and today he runs a pet hospital. Willi Lippens scored more than a hundred Bundesliga goals and became part of the Dutch national team as a German player, which is no small feat.

Nowadays, he owns a restaurant called Ich danke sie, which means Thank you. Janosch Dziwior became a deliveryman after playing in 1. FC Köln. Ex-Bayern München and Dortmund footballer Jürgen Wegmann works as a bouncer. Since he rejected positions with an unprofessional explanation, Wegmann sabotaged his football career.

One of the most outstanding players in the 2002 World Cup, Turkish Ilhan Mansiz, turned out to be a figure skater, while Rudi Kargus, who played more than 400 Bundesliga matches, became an impressionist painter. Holger Stanislawski played in St. Pauli and worked in 1.

FC Köln as a club manager, but today, he runs a store chain. However, he admitted to missing football because it gave him an adrenaline rush that his current job could never compete with.

Christian Karembeu, who achieved huge success with the French national team and Real Madri, created a company that connects football teams and sponsors on the Internet. Frank Leboeuf has a very successful career as an actor.

Among others, he starred in The theory of everything, which was nominated for five Oscars. Bixente Lizarazu has become a Jiu-Jitsu trainer, while European Champion Fabien Barthez found his new passion in motorsports.

Various Life Paths

Barry Horne won 59 caps and has played for both Southampton and Everton. Now he is working as a chemistry teacher. Gaizka Mendieta is a DJ, and former Portsmouth player Arjan de Zeeuw is a private investigator.

Klas Ingesson is a woodcutter, Julian Dicks breeds dogs, while Markus Münch breeds horses. Tomas Brolin is a singer and poker player, and the 1988 European Championship winner Berry van Aerle worked as a postman for a long time after his professional career, just like Peter Bonetti.

However, Neil Webb took it further and became a postmaster. Hans van Breukelen worked in retail as a company manager, but sadly Wim Kieft became a cocaine addict, while Arnold Mühren makes speeches about health.

Ramon Vega was once the head of the defense of the Swiss national team, as well as Tottenham, Grasshoppers, Celtic, and Cagliari. Now, he works as a fund manager, and Vega Swiss Asset Management manages over one billion euros! These examples show that people can have several life path options!

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