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: 06-12-21 Sue Newell
In the early 70’s I wrote to our local Leics Mercury sports newspaper - 'The Buff’ saying how much I admired Bobby Roberts. My husband was reading the paper & commented that a reader had written in and it sounded just like me - 'oh, it is you!'. In the 90’s we ran our own business & I used to go to the bank at Anstey. Bobby Roberts used to go in the bookies there and one day he was in the bank. I said hello and after he’d gone I told the cashier it was Bobby Roberts. She didn’t know who he was, but I enlightened her.Updated: 06-12-21 Paul hughes
I was a photographer for local papers covering Brentford and Fulham and Chelsea. Paul Prissy (goalkeeper) was a pal but I have a lovely memory of sitting on the touch line watching you play and a nice bloke as well.Updated: 06-12-21 Paul Hughes
Hi Les. You gave me a lift in your Ford Escort to Putney one evening as I was doing the photos for a local paper and have some great photos of you against Millwall at Craven Cottage and Steve Earle. Two great players and nice people.Updated: 06-12-21 Alan Brinkworth
I was a partner of John Latchford at life saving whilst at Turves Green school and wondered how he was doing these daysUpdated: 05-12-21 Mikey Gray
Lurch' came to prominence as part of Wimbledon's 'Crazy Gang' in the 1980's, and went on to make over 700 League appearances for a whole list of different clubs. Briefly joined Portsmouth after Aaron Flahavan's tragic death and played 28 games before moving on again. He played his last competitive game in the 2002-03 season for Brighton at the age of 43. Won two England caps but ironically one of his jobs since retiring as a player, was as goalkeeping coach to the Northern Ireland international side. He has since worked as a coach at Glenn Hoddle's academy in Spain, Bristol Rovers, Stevenage, and Reading. Can now be booked as a speaker or you can order a personal 'memmo' (personal message) - https://memmo.me/gb/en/profile/dave-beasantUpdated: 05-12-21
Scottish international keeper who won two caps in the 1894-5 season. Ventured 'south of the border' before becoming one of the newly formed Aberdeen FC's first ever players. He was only 35 when died in 1907 and former club Newton Heath (who were to become Manchester United) kindly donated £35 to his widow - equivalent to a an average yearly wage at the time.Updated: 05-12-21
A former Arsenal junior who won the FA Youth Cup in their colours and earned 24 Under 21 and two full caps with the Republic of Ireland. The Dublin born forward played most of his league matches while out on loan to various clubs before playing in Scotland from 2008. Upon retirement, he became Head of Football Ireland and a Director of Platinum One.Updated: 05-12-21
A Premier League stalwart synonymous with longevity, Barry has played 653 times in the Premier League, the highest number of appearances by any player in the competition’s history. 365 of these came for Aston Villa across an 11 year career, and he also won 53 caps for England under five different managers. Eighth on the list of all time appearance makers for the Villa Park side, Sussex-born Barry still lives in the Midlands, and, at the age of 38, was still playing for his old side’s local rivals West Bromwich Albion in the Championship. Retired in August 2021 and joined up with lifelong friend Michael Standing and former player Lee Power in First Touch Pro Management. In November 2021, the trio were charged by the FA in relation to the ownership and funding if Swindon Town FC.Updated: 05-12-21
Brown joined Southampton as a trainee in 1982 and remained at The Dell until the spring of 1987, playing over 120 games for the reserves without earning a first team breakthrough. Brown went on to play over 50 games for Brighton before turning out for Aldershot, Yeovil and two spells at Woking. He earned one cap for England ‘C’ and, upon retirement, worked as officer for sport at St Francis School in Wiltshire.Updated: 05-12-21 Dennis Saul
Many times I have thought about Willie. One of my favorite photos is one with Willie with his gran daughter sitting on his shoulders. When he came to Burnley (aged 14 I think) I was 17 and school captain at Burnley Tech School. I was very keen on golf. So was Willie. I don’t remember how we met but we often played together at Townley municiple golf course. Sometimes other Players like Angus Played (he was a good player). Then one day he moved to Man United and I haven't been in touch with him since. Since then I’ve been wed 3 times got 7 kids, had more jobs than the fugitive until becoming a Pro golfer for 20 years in Leicestershire. Have taught more than 1000 people to play and made over 400 made to measure clubs and many drivers and woods. I’m off to Cyprus tomorrow for a month to recuperate after knee surgery hip intervention and sepsis. Nearly copped it but always kept myself fit and still do. I would love to hear from Willie - it’s such a long long time but without doubt one of the best blokes I’ve ever met. I hope you see him to give him my very best wishes and I treasure the golfing memories I have of that time.
When 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: Did Tresor Kandol Score the Most Important Goal in Leeds United’s History?, Arsenal Greats, 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.