The Dark Side of Football (Footballer's who don't make it)

[GMok]

In football news, we get to read non-stop about multimillionaire footballers and their insane wages, e.g. Mbappe. These footballer's PR and related social media also makes sure that they are always in the limelight, be it for good or bad reasons.

However, the sad truth is a bigger percentage of aspiring footballers don't make the cut, and they are forgotten from public memory pretty quickly. Multitude of causes exists for why these footballers don't rise to the shiny side of football, but injury is a dominant reason. We learn of clubs releasing multiple academy youngsters each day. Some of them join lower league or non-league clubs and make a career there, some can't even do that. How do they get on with their lives, considering the wages in non-league football are nothing compared to the elite level?

Doesn't football owe these people something? I mean, players and and managers earning in millions can easily donate in a trust fund to take care of footballers or former footballers in need of money. Footballers do have a union, don't they?

There was an excellent article from Sid Lowe on this some 3-4 years ago.


Note: Apologies, if such a thread already exists. Moderators are requested to close this in case of duplication.

 

[Shakesy]

The same could be applied for hundreds of other professions.

What really grates me is when we're reminded to "follow our dreams" by the tiny minority who actually managed to realise their dreams.

 

[GMok]

The same could be applied for hundreds of other professions.

What really grates me is when we're reminded to "follow our dreams" by the tiny minority who actually managed to realise their dreams.

True, but I don't think that in any other profession the wage gap is as big as between a Premier League footballer and a conference footballer.

Anyway, my initial post was not very clear. I wanted to know what kind of support system is available for these players when they need help in footballing countries. For countries like India, it is somewhat different as before I-league, our first division footballers earned extremely modest wage, and many of them lived in poverty.

 

[UTAretro]

In any highly competitive profession a combination of factors can make or break a career. While some footballers still only live and breathe football all through childhood and adolescence, a lot has been done by academies to ensure young players are educated about the harsh realities of making a career out of football. For most, it won’t happen no matter how hard you train or how much you want it.

It is very similar to acting, where almost every actor in the world has a “Plan B” career. Many go from stage school from age 3, all through their childhood and teenage years, go to drama school, get agents and attend hundreds of auditions. For some it’s all they’ve ever known and they’ve never considered the very common reality that they simply won’t make it.

There are a finite number of jobs, contested by far too many skilled people to accommodate them. It’s just a reality of life, and good parenting/education/academies have a duty to keep realities in check.

 

[Nico87]

I don’t think you can really equate wage differentials in something like football to other professions. How many other jobs do literally millions of people do as hobby in their free time just for the love of It?

It’s the same with amateur musicians and artists if you’re not able to generate the interes to make a lucrative living from it you will just have to accept it is a hobby you do for enjoyment, there is no shame in that but also no entitlement to make it as a profession.