Robert Pires will never forget what it was like to come to terms with being a retired footballer. “You don’t want to say ‘stop’ because I have been playing for 19 seasons and football meant everything to me,” says one of the stars of Arsenal’s Invincibles, who was part of the France team that won the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship . “Even now, football is my life and it’s in my blood, so when I said the game was over, that’s why it was very difficult to accept.”
Fortunately for Pires, help was at hand. He first met Stéphane Ehrhart – a former player who is now UEFA’s career transition expert – in 2009 while playing for Villarreal, when the decision to hang up his boots barely crossed his mind.
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“I always said, ‘I have time.’ But time passes very quickly,” says Pires. “When you play, it’s the best job in the world. You are very focused on your club and you have to be very good every match, so you don’t think about life after football. That’s why it was very important for me when I met Stéphane. He got me thinking about what will happen when it’s all over. He gave me good advice and explained in advance what the challenges would be. He helped prepare my brain.”
Ehrhart, after hearing countless stories about how unprepared players felt as retirement loomed, has compiled the advice he’s given over the years into a book, The Footballer’s Guide: Optimizing your career on the field and beyond . It provides detailed information, educational tools and advice on practical ways to manage the transition.
“When I first spoke to Robert I was quite surprised. This man was at the top of his game and had played at the highest level in several countries, but really had no idea what he wanted to do when he retired,” says Ehrhart. . “I thought if someone at that stage of their career has no idea what to do next, there are definitely holes in the system.
“Not every player is ready for it. In the beginning with Robert he laughed about it and didn’t take things seriously. But throughout my career I’ve had players asking me for that kind of advice and they didn’t really know where to find information. Some clubs and national associations have some form of support for their players, but I thought it would be useful to have one place where they can find good tips.”
With chapters on how to safely choose investments, developing a life plan and ‘the science of happiness’, the author hopes that professional players can be guided in making informed choices.
For years you were the breadwinner of the family, but now you sit at home with nothing to do and you feel a bit lost
“A lot of players have talked about how it feels like they’re dead when they stop playing,” he says. “We try to present to them the challenges they will face. It’s like you’re riding a motorcycle and there’s a wall at the end of the road, but you don’t know it’s there. We explain to them that there is a wall and that you will crash into it no matter what. There are different ways to go around the wall or over the wall, but if you don’t do anything, you’re going to hit it with full force.”
The statistics support that. About 30% of former players divorce after retirement, and an estimated 40% of former professionals declare bankruptcy after five years.
According to Ehrhart, there are three specific areas that pose a problem: declining physical health because they no longer train every day, missing the network of friends that comes from being in the locker room and the effect on family life.
“You have been the breadwinner of the family for years, but now you are at home with nothing to do and you feel a bit lost. You have to reinvent your social position. We’re trying to help players realize that it’s a little more complicated than just trying to find a new job. For most, these three things will all happen at the same time within six months of retirement, so it’s not a good time to think strategically about what they’ll do over the next twenty years. That’s why we explain to the players: ‘This is what’s coming and why it’s so important to plan in advance.’”
Pires, who works as a pundit for French television and is an ambassador for Arsenal, admits his move was helped by Arsene Wenger, who allowed him to train with the club’s first team after his retirement. “It was very difficult for me,” he says. “My contract at Aston Villa expired and the day after I said, ‘No, come on. I want to play football.’ I may have lost my speed, but I still thought I could play, even if it is football. So I said to Wenger: ‘Boss, can I please train with you every morning?’ And he said, ‘Yes, of course.’
“It was very good for me, but very difficult not to be a real player anymore. For me it was very special to be in the dressing room every day. But now I don’t have this every day and it feels like I’ve lost something.”
At 49, Pires is still a fixture on the charity match circuit – “playing makes me feel alive,” he says – but he believes more advice needs to be given to the current generation of players about life after football. “You have to be very careful because money moves very quickly. You earn a lot when you play, but the second life is very long and you have to prepare for this,” he says. “That is why it is important that young players receive good advice on how to invest wisely.”
As for Arsenal, Pires has been impressed with their progress and insists Mikel Arteta is building something special whatever happens in the title race. “I am very positive and believe in Arteta. He is a very good manager. Starting your career at Arsenal is a very difficult place to start, but I think he learned a lot from Arsene Wenger and especially Pep Guardiola. It was a very good idea to become his assistant because it helped his development a lot. Now he is one of the best managers in the Premier League. He is very passionate and sometimes a bit stubborn, but I like that.”