The former Wales international spoke about the financial advice given to him before his early retirement.

The career of a footballer can be the best time of a person’s life. There are the highs of winning and playing on the pitch, the luxury and the money. But the duration can be short: According to the Guardian (20 March, 2010), the average length of a professional football player’s career is eight years. This limited span of a footballing career does not leave players with much time to plan for the rest of their lives. It can be even shorter if a player has to retire early due to injury.

Making the most out of the wealth a player can amass during such a short earnings period is therefore a crucial issue, former West Ham United footballer Jack Collison told this news service recently. Collison retired at the tender age of 26 because of persistent knee injuries and spoke about the financial information and advice given to footballers during their careers.

“I remember a couple of times we had various people coming into the club when I was at West Ham to speak to us about various things such as pensions and bank accounts,” Collison said. “There were some little bits but nowhere near enough what I believe is needed, especially with the amount of money floating around in football today. Some of these players will come across an awful amount of money at such a young age, so it is vitally important that more is done." 

“I think there is nowhere near enough information out there for players. I think the Professional Footballers’ Association has taken some positive steps to try and get more information out there, but more has to be done by them and be driven home by each club individually. There is a massive area, and I think as a footballing nation, something needs to be looked at and things need to be improved,” he continued.

To assist members with their financial planning, the PFA appointed Pro Sport Wealth Management, a chartered independent financial advice company specialising in sport, as an official partner in 2011. Pro Sport Wealth help educate players on how best to handle their finances, as former player, current PFA trustee and Pro Sport co-founder Gareth Griffiths helps inform players of the need to invest their money wisely.

Collison was unlucky during his career. He made his debut for the English Premier League side at 19 against Arsenal, and at age 20, he suffered a knee injury against Wigan, which sparked off his injury issues. The former Wales international spoke about if there was any help given to him to help him adjust towards retirement.

“It’s a tricky one,” said Collison. “I had people advising me because I had a long history of knee injuries and problems, so there was always a possibility that my career was going to be cut short. Did I think it was going to be as early as that? No, but it happened. To be honest, I had a few people speak to me and told me to be careful and need to start thinking about the future, and start looking to invest. But this was only towards the last year of my career that I did have a serious look, and trying to make plans towards the retirement," he said.

It seems as if footballers are not given enough details about their financial affairs, like they should be given due to their vulnerable position with their unknown outlook of their career. However this maybe to not upset players about the impending nature of their career.

This publication recently spoke to RBC Wealth Management’s Jason Turner surrounding injuries and sports wealth planning, and he told WealthBriefing the struggle athletes have to talk about ending their career. Collison also spoke about the same issue, and how it can affect players’ decision making about their finances.

“I remember being as a player myself, you feel invincible, you feel you can go on forever playing,” said Collison. “You think you will always be earning money and despite people telling you, you don’t think about the future. As I had to try work towards at an earlier age, I am now in a position where I am back coaching trying to pass on my knowledge and expertise,” he said.

“I really try and get across to the players “yes you are here because you want to be a football, but at the same time you need to be planning and to be working towards other things just in case”. You never know a career could be cut short due to injury, selection, loss of form, and this means it is always important to have something in the background and other interests away from football,” he said.

Now 28, Collison earned his coaching badges before his retirement in 2016, and is now a youth coach at West Ham. He explained how he is a valuable member to the youth team because of his experiences.

“I think this isn’t one of the main reasons, but one of the reasons I went into coaching was because I feel in my short career I experienced an awful lot,” said Collison. “I experienced good moments and my fair share of bad moments. Now I am in this position, a powerful position in terms of trying to help these young players, I think it is vitally important that part of the development is knowing about finances and about how important it is to have an education or career path because at the end of the day, it is such a tricky period for any young player that they need to be prepared if they don’t have a career in football.  I will always tell young players to focus on what you will do after football. It is not a nice conversation to have but it is something that needs to happen, and is vitally important.”

The PFA placed this quote on their website about the advice they give to footballers and investing: “We hope members will fully utilise all the relevant expert help at their disposal through the PFA. Many former professionals have tripped up in the past because they invested money in complex schemes they did not fully understand, so it is vital members are well informed with regard to their personal finances."

(This article is one of a series of explorations around the worlds of sport and wealth.)