Saw this on Sky Sports website
When most of us think of retirement, we assume it's going to happen to us in our 60's.
Footballers however have to think about retiring a little earlier than that (Sir Stanley Matthews aside!)
The average age when a footballer can no longer play professionally is in the mid-30's, which means unless they are a multi-millionaire Premier League star, they'll need to work again.
But what can a former professional footballer do and how do they feel about leaving their playing days behind? Life After Football takes a look at five different areas of the professional footballer...
In Part One, we look at the heartbreaking story of Warren Aspinall.
At the age of 42, the former Everton, Aston Villa and Portsmouth striker is rebuilding his life after wasting £1million he'd saved during his career.
He was forced to retire 10 years ago because of an ankle injury but couldn't cope with the void left by football. His gambling and alcohol addictions came to the fore, so much so that in December 2007, after emptying his bank account and several drinks, Aspinall sat on a railway line and waited for a train to hit him.
At the last moment when the train driver frantically sounded his horn Aspinall moved off the line. Thankfully, he has been given a second chance.
Aspinall sought help that wasn't there for him when he first left football in 2000 and although his suicide attempt is raw and upsetting, he is rebuilding his life.
Although Aspinall has no money left from football, he lives in his fiance's house and as he puts it "the petrol in the tank is worth more than my car!" he's content with life.
He works in a distribution centre earning a good wage and what's more, 10 years on from his retirement, he's working once again in football.
Firstly, Port Vale manager and friend Mickey Adams asked him to scout for the club and then earlier this year, Gus Poyet enlisted him to scout for Brighton.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,195...996903,00.html
Good video on the website where Aspinall explains how he got into gambling and what drove him to nearly commit suicide
When most of us think of retirement, we assume it's going to happen to us in our 60's.
Footballers however have to think about retiring a little earlier than that (Sir Stanley Matthews aside!)
The average age when a footballer can no longer play professionally is in the mid-30's, which means unless they are a multi-millionaire Premier League star, they'll need to work again.
But what can a former professional footballer do and how do they feel about leaving their playing days behind? Life After Football takes a look at five different areas of the professional footballer...
In Part One, we look at the heartbreaking story of Warren Aspinall.
At the age of 42, the former Everton, Aston Villa and Portsmouth striker is rebuilding his life after wasting £1million he'd saved during his career.
He was forced to retire 10 years ago because of an ankle injury but couldn't cope with the void left by football. His gambling and alcohol addictions came to the fore, so much so that in December 2007, after emptying his bank account and several drinks, Aspinall sat on a railway line and waited for a train to hit him.
At the last moment when the train driver frantically sounded his horn Aspinall moved off the line. Thankfully, he has been given a second chance.
Aspinall sought help that wasn't there for him when he first left football in 2000 and although his suicide attempt is raw and upsetting, he is rebuilding his life.
Although Aspinall has no money left from football, he lives in his fiance's house and as he puts it "the petrol in the tank is worth more than my car!" he's content with life.
He works in a distribution centre earning a good wage and what's more, 10 years on from his retirement, he's working once again in football.
Firstly, Port Vale manager and friend Mickey Adams asked him to scout for the club and then earlier this year, Gus Poyet enlisted him to scout for Brighton.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,195...996903,00.html
Good video on the website where Aspinall explains how he got into gambling and what drove him to nearly commit suicide
RAFA 
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