MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Following @FinishedPlayers on Twitter, it's amazing what some people are up to since retiring. Des Walker is apparently a truck driver these days!
Cheers for that it's quite intriguing. Names from the past and in some case not so distant. It's amazing how the money in the game has changed in 15 or so years. A lot of then top flight players who will have very little or nothing left from their career.
Frank Macavennie said in an interview that in his day (late 80's)footballers earned in a week what a working man* would earn in a month, now it's more like earn in week what a working man earns in a year.
I remember Macca at Celtic getting a VW Golf GTi and we all thought WOW! Now the scrotes playing footie drive Ferrari's.
*Proper jobs, like joiner, plumber etc...
The one that got me was Clive Mendonca, who now works on the Nissan plant in Sunderland, now it might be in a sports/health type roll, or he might be on the production line, but I cant imagine anyone else who's currently playing onnthe premier league ending up like that.
Robbie Fowler did it right by the look of things. No truck driving for him, he put all his money into property in Liverpool and has an enormous portfolio, does very well indeed.
I cant imagine anyone else who's currently playing onnthe premier league ending up like that.
It's still something that happens. I think David James was declared bankrupt a few months back.
There's a huge problem with high stakes gambling amongst footballers, there's a lot of people circling pushing poor quality investments and there's not a lot of will to save for the future when you're a 22 year old star. There are voluntary groups set up these days to try to help people who fall out of football to transition back into a normal life.
edit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21790728
The players aren't that different now as they spend what they earn. It's not a huge sweeping generalisation to say they're not that we'll educated, easily manipulated and don't realise that their earning potential will decline once they retire. Stories of dodgy investments and buying pubs are commonplace.
Sad really.
My cousin played for a few teams - wimbledon, Crewe, Rotherham amongst them. Ended up running a chippie and coaching non league teams in his spare time
now it's more like earn in week what a working man earns in a year
Or a lifetime
Messi's on £313,000 per week. Over a year that's £16,276,000
Assuming the average working man works between the ages of 18-65, they'd need to earn £346,297.87 every year, for 47 years, to earn as much as Messi makes in 1 year.
Madness.
I cant imagine anyone else who's currently playing onnthe premier league ending up like that.
Not current but certainly recent
If you watch the Class of 92, when Becks, Giggs, Scholes etc were playing in the United first team, Nicky Butt was the only one who had a car. He had a Ford Orion. When they got to 30 first team games they were loaned a bog standard Honda Prelude. as they were a United Sponsor. Apaprently Becks payed extra to have a leather interior. The flash git! 😀
How things have changed.
Ray Clemence was on five live on Sunday talking about why a lot of talented young English players don't make it. He said that nowadays a promising 15 year old will have signed a daft-money contract with a premiership academy, and their agent is ferrying them back and too to training in a Bentley. They think they've made it already, and as a result they're simply not hungry enough. Hence the premiership being full of foreign players who were, and still are
Ex-Chelsea player Gavin Peacock studied theology and is now a priest in Canada.
Bin bins I spoke to an ex employee of a high profile Premiership team and he said that many of the 16-18 year old were on contract that were thousands per week. The most expensive were on nearly 500k per annum and had not played a game for the first team - they did this as they did not want to loose the "potential" to rivals.
Making a 16 year old minted is not a good thing IMHO and they can lose focus. you then get players like Raheem sterling to Liverpool who was "poached"* and after one good season gets 100 k contract. For all we know he is the new aaron lennon [ or Lee sharpe for those of us with long memories] rather than the new becks or Ronaldo
* not in the legal sense and to be clear nothing liverpool did was illegal
There was a guy on Danny Bakers show who was ex footballer now a physics teacher 😆 played for Maccelesfield I think.
Barry Horne teaches chemistry at a school on the Wirral. Think he already had his degree when he was playing.
Faustino Aprillia - Guava flavoured condom maker 🙂
Boohoo, what a shame that after earning a living kicking a ball around, that lots of them have to enter the real world.
Even if they've earned what was equivalent to a minimum wage salary for a few years playing in the lower leagues then they were still basically living the dream. I get that it can be hard to adjust to a 'normal' job but isn't that the case for plenty of others? I'd wager that a high proportion of kids serving on the front line in the army have the same academic abilities as footballers. It's well known that many ex servicemen struggle with employment in civilian life......I wonder how many ex prem footballers are living rough struggling with PTSD?
I'm a guitar teacher, a few years ago I tought a footballer that was a first team regular for Port Vale. He lived in a pretty massive house, drove a brand new car and had two lessons a week at around 1pm (he was done for the day after training by that time) I seemed to take my guitar playing far more seriously than he took being a footballer. I think that he drives a taxi now.....what a terrible shame.
think the problems occur when you try and maintain the lifestyle to which you've been accustomed without the income to back it up.
Andy Goram - keeper for Scotland, Rangers legend, Man U etc - lived over winter in my Dads timber chalet (far from luxury) near Dalbeattie. Playing for Queen of the South at the time, it was thought somewhere quiet away from pubs etc might be best for him. Left a few shirts and a good few empty bottles when he left for Elgin City. Just fellas after all.
think the problems occur when you try and maintain the lifestyle to which you've been accustomed without the income to back it up.
Here's an idea for them - Save a few quid. You know, perhaps don't buy another gold plated Lamborghini and put some money aside for when your career ends.
Here's an idea for them - Save a few quid. You know, perhaps don't buy another gold plated Lamborghini and put some money aside for when your career ends.
But that's just it isn't it, it's coming to them at an age where financial responsibility just doesn't occur. What 16 year old would save money they suddenly accrued?
mmmmm chrome wrap
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Even if they've earned what was equivalent to a minimum wage salary for a few years playing in the lower leagues then they were still basically living the dream.
Well no, because they're jobless at 35, having not acquired any other skills.
What 16 year old would save money they suddenly accrued?
This one...
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Say what you like about him, he's a shrewd little sod. Soon as he started making any money, instead of spanking it on Bentleys, he started buying property instead. Hence the Liverpool fans singing to him 'We all live in a Robbie Fowler House!" to the tune of yellow submarine. He now owns half of Liverpool (present value: at least 3 grand!!!) 😉 and 2 of the flats in the Beetham Tower in Manchester, amongst lots of others.
I think Charlie George is a steward at Arsenal these days.
If I remember rightly Alan Sugar warned the EPL that unless it structured the TV deal to keep a portion of the money at the league level if it all went to clubs it would just go on top players wages which is exactly what has happened. The US NFL has a rule which keeps ticket prices low but the UK clubs didn't want that as the big clubs wanted to keep a financial advantage. So many missed opportunities
The NFL has all sorts of 'sensible' rules in this respect - the draft, salary caps etc. We don't have that same hierarchy. As said, we're already paying millions as retainers to youth players to avoid them going elsewhere. In the NFL the youth players are basically in one giant pool, and then the worst teams from the previous year get the first pick of the burgeoning talent.
Over simplification, but it levels the playing field no end.
The NFL has all sorts of 'sensible' rules in this respect - the draft, salary caps etc.
You cannot compare football in the UK with the NFL.
The NFL works on a "closed shop" franchise system, there are 32 teams and that is it. There is no promotion or relegation.
You could never have an AFC Wimbledon type situation, with a tiny new club, fighting it's way up the leagues. The NFL is purely business.
On footballers wages you can have a Bentley and the properties. If you are smart you can get the car as part of a sponsorship deal, you don't even need to pay for it.
On footballers wages you can have a Bentley and the properties. If you are smart you can get the car as part of a sponsorship deal, you don't even need to pay for it.
I think the 'Smart' part is where most of them fall down...
If all those premiership players who earned big money 10 years ago had spent it on property/other good investments, rather than Ferraris, and 10k handbags for their WAGS, they would be seriously wealthy now, rather than driving taxis.
To be fair though - i'm sure a lot of them get some pretty duff advice from people peddling 'get rich quick' investments, and they must feel pressure (either from their piers, or from the 'media') to have the latest supercar/be photographed going in/out of the right shops/nightclubs.
You cannot compare football in the UK with the NFL.
Maybe not, but you can certainly compared it to football in Germany, which is much cheaper to watch, and has a far more successful national team. They're not too shabby in European club competition, either.
@gobuchal - well you could have a rule on ticket prices, you could have had a rule which kept, say 25%-35% of the TV money with the FA for funding the game more broadly etc etc. You could still have had promotion and relegation. The EPL was setup so the clubs could keep all the money and pay it to players and their owners.
They love a bit of socialism over there. Trade off is that their college system (which provides the basis for parity) is an ethical quagmire for the big sports.njee20 - MemberThe NFL has all sorts of 'sensible' rules in this respect - the draft, salary caps etc. We don't have that same hierarchy. As said, we're already paying millions as retainers to youth players to avoid them going elsewhere. In the NFL the youth players are basically in one giant pool, and then the worst teams from the previous year get the first pick of the burgeoning talent.
Over simplification, but it levels the playing field no end.
Maybe not, but you can certainly compared it to football in Germany, which is much cheaper to watch, and has a far more successful national team.
Why do you watch football? Personally it's for entertainment and the EPL is by far the most entertaining league in the World. This is also why it's the richest and gets the most TV revenue.
@gobuchal - well you could have a rule on ticket prices
You could but the Clubs don't want to. It's supply and demand, pretty simple. I would guess it would probably be illegal for the UK government to force a business to charge a certain amount for it's product.
You cannot compare football in the UK with the NFL.
I didn't, and I wholly agree, which was my point - in response to Jambalaya's post.
Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen are two very good examples of how to do it right. Fowler is worth more now than he was at the peak of his playing days, and Owen (as much as I despise the man) owns one a state of the art stables, and a number of very successful race horses.
another worth a mention is Alan Shearer, he owns a number of businesses in Newcastle, at least two restaurants I know of and a large 5-a-side football / gym facility, that is always very busy...
You could but the Clubs don't want to. It's supply and demand, pretty simple.
+1, why is more important that a fan who can only afford a £5 ticket gets it than one that can afford £50 or £500? they've got 50,000 tickets to sell, to 50,000 fans, you'd be mad as a business to sell them for thess than the most you could.
You would not need to be mad you would just need to value something equally to money like say loyalty, your fans , atmosphere, tradition etc. See Dortmund for example
Nice article here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29624410
Why are tickets cheap? Football is part of people's lives and we want to open the doors for all of society. We need the people, they spend their hearts, their emotions with us. They are the club's most important asset."
The NFL has all sorts of 'sensible' rules in this respect
Its mazing that thier sports is so left wing and ours so market orientated
FWIW it is the only market that flaahy abhors and that is the politics of envy
Bert Murray who used to play for Chelsea & England now runs The Bull pub in Market Deeping.
This chap:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Murray
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Don't know him very well, but a friend of mine is a regular in there and they are always swapping racing tips. He's a really nice bloke.
Nice pub, with a lovely pint of Tiger and a decent pool table if you are in the area, too!!!
Why do you watch football? Personally it's for entertainment and the EPL is by far the most entertaining league in the World. This is also why it's the richest and gets the most TV revenue.
I'd also like to see the national side do better. The two are not mutually exclusive, nor is entertaining football dependent on being rich.
Its mazing that thier sports is so left wing and ours so market orientated
No it isn't!
You have a buy a franchise to compete. Once in you follow the rules.
The whole thing is more of a money making monster than the EPL.
The money involved makes the EPL look like the Conference.
The NFL numbers are huge indeed. $29b for the last TV deal. In these days of on-line TV deals the networks see NFL as the major way to retain audiences hence the massive deal.
I've met a few ex-footballers who seem fine but there will always be ones that screw themselves financially no matter the immense amounts they are paid. John Terry is a good example for one.
why is more important that a fan who can only afford a £5 ticket gets it than one that can afford £50 or £500? they've got 50,000 tickets to sell, to 50,000 fans, you'd be mad as a business to sell them for less than the most you could.
@thisisnotaspoon, that's why you take the decision away from the clubs. The NFL stipulates what you can charge for a ticket, the TV deals provide more than enough revenue and that's before sponsorship etc.
@gobuchul - there is a huge amount of money in the EPL, they could have arranged the finances differently to benefit the fans and the game in general and still had huge amounts left for the owners, the players etc
Another interesting NFL policy is that you cannot show the game on local TV unless it's sold out, so when the games don't sell out the local TV companies and other businesses buy up the tickets and I believe give them away to schools, youth groups etc.
their rules are designed to keep it, broadly, fair and competitive and to stop money,alone, letting you win the league.
Its very different from ours in that,sporting, respect.
they are both bloated cash cows
Why do you watch football? Personally it's for entertainment and the EPL is by far the most entertaining league in the World. This is also why it's the richest and gets the most TV revenue.
Most entertaining by far? Bullshit. See, if you say something like 'I think the EPL is the most entertaining league' then that's reasonable. But the 'by far' bit is just pish.
Ex Oldham player Andy Barlow now works as a JCB.
Ex Oldham player Andy Barlow now works as a JCB.
As a JCB?
Wow that's impressive! 😀
Gary Imlach's "My Father And Other Working Class Football Heroes" is an excellent book that will interest many of you.
Talks about the "good old days" of maximum wage, which meant that just about any club could achieve success, the players had to have a summer job (pay was halved during the summer break), and their career could be finished with one tackle.
John Philiben the former European Youth cup winner, Motherwell defender and Stirling Albion boss is now a driving instructor (fund yourself and fit it around training as your career fades away).
The fact that even such "stars" need another career goes against the actions of the local high school - a sporting academy - which pulls kids out of classes for coaching sessions (they're meant to make it up in the lunch hour but even so the disruption must be considerable). But then I'm only a SFA Level-1 coach so what do I know 😉
Oh - and Terry Butcher (former England defender) used to own a local hotel.
Getting bloatier by the looks of it - talk of 5 NFL games in London next season. Long term they must be thinking of a permanent London team.Junkyard - lazarustheir rules are designed to keep it, broadly, fair and competitive and to stop money,alone, letting you win the league.
Its very different from ours in that,sporting, respect.
they are both bloated cash cows
The one that got me was Clive Mendonca, who now works on the Nissan plant in Sunderland, now it might be in a sports/health type roll, or he might be on the production line, but I cant imagine anyone else who's currently playing onnthe premier league ending up like that
He's on the production line which believe me is a bloody hard job, very nice chap he is too and isn't scared of a bit hard graft - lots of young new starters can't hack it and walk out.
This Chap, http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Moir_(footballer) was a Fireman at an old BNFL works, and a friend of mine.A true gent and a lovely guy. When he was sold by Man Utd his replacement was a real character......George Best!