After Football: Three Unique Careers Former Players Enjoyed

Typically, upon completion of their playing careers, players take a couple of routes.  Some go into punditry to make a living.

We’re not just talking the likes of Roy Keane or Gary Neville either; up, and down the land, former players are on radio stations and talk shows giving their opinions. Some players move into coaching, management or working behind the scenes at a football club, and again, it isn’t just the front of house staff. Many lower league players move into physiotherapy or become a masseur with good results. Others head off to normal jobs, such as postmen or taxi drivers, whilst a lucky few don’t have to work again and just graft to get their golf handicap down.A select few go on to do unique things after they hang up their boots. They take a career path that hasn’t already be trodden by fellow professionals or one that raises a few eyebrows from their former fans. We have selected three unique career high-profile players enjoyed after their playing career ended.

Daniel Agger



Former Liverpool defender Daniel Agger has always been well-known for his tattoos. He is reported as having his first tattoo at the age of 15 on a trip to Paris, and by the time he retired, the Danish defender was covered from head to toe. He certainly boasts more tattoos than he has international caps, and that’s an achievement considering he represented Denmark 75 times, appearing in the 2010 World Cup. After playing, it seems reasonable that he pursued a career as a tattoo artist; he even formed his own brand, Tattoodo. If that wasn’t enough, he also runs a sewerage company named KloAgger together with his brother, uncle and childhood friend

Thomas Gravesen



Thomas Gravesen got a reputation for being a little off-piste as a player; his nickname was Mad Dog, and he did little to dispel that during stints with Celtic, Real Madrid and Everton. He was often at the centre of controversy and rarely out of the newspaper headlines. Once he retired, he was always going to pursue a career that gave him the thrill of football and the high-pressure situations he had come to thrive in. He took up poker after moving to Las Vegas and became incredibly successful. He swapped holding midfield for Texas Hold’em, the most popular of poker variants. Despite playing for one of the best sides in the world, he became even more successful around the felt, winning more than £70m. He’s now back in his native Denmark, although he doesn’t seem the type to be happy working on his golf handicap.

Royston Drenthe



Drenthe was, at one point, Europe’s hottest property. As a teenager, he secured a move to Real Madrid and seemed on course for a career right at the top of the game. He rose through the ranks of the Dutch youth setup, playing Under 18s right through to a solitary full cap for his country in 2010. He played alongside Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Ron Vlaar and Tim Krul, and even joined Madrid at the same time as Wesley Sneijder. He was dealt a decent hand as a youth, but he played it badly, and by the time he retired, he’d appeared for Reading, Sheffield Wednesday, Kayseri Erciyesspor and Dutch third-tier side Kozakken Boys. He did pursue an interesting post-football career; he became a rap artist, recording a song called Tak Takie. Like much of his football career, the early promise didn’t pay off. Now he’s settled into a far more predictable career off the field; he released a clothing brand and is a commentator for the Spanish sports program El Chiringuito de Jugones. Yawn.