Where Are They Now is designed for you if you are a football fan who is as curious as us to find out what happened to your favourite footballers after they retired from playing.
Have you ever wondered what happened to all of those players that you have seen come and go over the years? The heroes and the villains? The saints and the sinners? The stars that you talked about for years after they had retired and those you instantly forgot?
If so, Where Are They Now? is definitely for you!
Not all players end up running pubs or become TV pundits! It's no secret what Gary Lineker is up to these days but what about the many thousands of players who have slipped from public view? The first edition of "Where Are They Now?" uncovered some fascinating post football stories including the former Arsenal striker who became Iceland's Finance Minister; Millionaires; Bankrupts; Vicars; Comedians; Singers; a Phil Collins lookalike... and one or two publicans!
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Where Are They Now Books
This whole project began with a book entitled 'Where Are They Now? - Life After Soccer'.
This proved to be incredibly popular and led to the formation of this site as well as a number of club specific titles. So far, the series comprises of Manchester United, Chelsea, Portsmouth, Huddersfield Town, Aston Villa and Liverpool. Forthcoming titles include Arsenal, Southampton and West Bromwich Albion - watch this space!
Updated: 19-01-21 Derek Johnson
John and I virtually grew up together, I am 2 month younger. We attended aylesford secondary and both lived in ‘teapot’, only one in the world?Updated: 19-01-21 Frank Brennan
John Jeffers sadly passed away today, 19/01/2021. He will be sadly missed by his young family and his many friends.Updated: 18-01-21 R Glyn Jones
I taught Clyde at Churchill School,Prospect, Devonshire. Hope when Covid is over to visit Bermuda and again as in 2015 make my acquaintances with Clyde. He has always spoiled myself as a player when I captained the Staff v Pupils which Clyde captained in both football and cricket. In 1981 in Toronto when he gave myself and my sons Richard and Bryn (died in 2013) a wonderful time as we saw him play For the Blizzard.Then in 2015 when I visited Bermuda.Updated: 18-01-21 Cary
I went to Malory school, I was a few years below Billy, our deputy head spoke about him at the school assembly saying Billy had played for England the night before.Updated: 18-01-21 David Moore
Speaking as a Wednesdayite, I well remember my first steel city derby when Derek scored the only goal of the match. It was in 1959, at Bramall Lane, cold and misty, I was 11 and Wednesday wore white socks. Peter Swan was Wednesday’s centre half and after that match he always reserved ‘special treatment’ for Derek whenever they played against each other. Poor Derek. I’ve seen many more steel city derbies over the years and that first one was the one and only United victory I have witnessed. Derek wasn’t a typical centre forward to look at, he was slim and only medium height but he could jump high and head the ball superbly. He was a regular 20 goal a season man for the Blades. Remember him well.Updated: 18-01-21 Chris Drake
My hero in the early 60's and remember seeing him score consecutive hat tricks at home v Man City and Blackburn Rovers. Used to see him and his wife in the Sheaf Island on a Wednesday and he as always been a perfect gent and good company with his knowledge of how the game should be played.Updated: 18-01-21 Helen Blackburn
I went to the same school as Wilf Rostron though he's 9 years older than me. My Dad taught at the same school and got me Wilf's autograph.Updated: 18-01-21 Helen Blackburn
My Dad taught Jimmy Montgomery as a young teacher at St Hilda's School in Southwick. When we were kids we thought he taught him how to play football - but sadly not.Updated: 18-01-21 alan avis
Met Barry in Elba in early seventies....lovely guy . Attended his wedding the following year. Hope he is keeping well. Very Best WishesUpdated: 18-01-21 John Wilford
I remember calling at Frank's garage at Burton Joyce where Frank topped up mycar. I had the cheek to advise him on his running action to help him speed up. He smiled and thanked me. I also remember him in that FA Cup tie at the City Ground when Forest beat Everton 3vs2.That match was the most exciting game I ever watched. If Joe Baker had not been injured and put out for the season Forest would have won the FA Cup or the First division championship, perhaps even the double. What happy football days they were. This generation do not know what they missed. John WilfordWhen we researched the first printed edition of 'Where Are They Now?' in the 1990's, footballers were already incredibly well paid by conventional employment standards but prior to that, players had to find a new career once they had hung up their boots.
This meant that we unearthed plenty of interesting and un-expected stories, many of which are found on the site. Sadly, there were some we could not re-produce for legal reasons - sorry!
Playing professional football, particularly at the highest level should ensure that modern players should not have to worry about money for the rest of their lives. Thankfully, this has not limited the number of fascinating tales for us to tell. For example, were you aware that former Sheffield United midfielder Curtis Woodhouse became British light welterweight champion when he took up professional boxing, having apparently 'fallen out of love' with football? If the rumours are true, he was not just a winner in the ring! At one point, he was considered to be 50 to 1 outsider to win the title and a successful £5,000 scooped him a cool £250,000 when he defeated defending champion Darren Hamilton.
As well as our regular club based pages, we also occasionally add more detailed player pages and would welcome your feedback. See: Ruud Gullit, Roy Bentley, Trevor Francis, Gavin Peacock, Carlos Valderrama, Graham Potter, Matt Holland, Liverpool's 2005-06 FA Cup Winning Team, and a look back at some of the best strikers to grace English football.
When do you think that the Premier League should re-start?
Where are they now? – Boro players who played League Cup’s season opening game 8 years ago.
If you know of any other stories that may interest fellow fans, please do let us know.