When the day finally comes for a professional sportsman to either hang up the boots, gloves or racquet, it can provoke a stark reality check. Imagine going from a life where you were hardwired to wake up every day with a purpose, to finding yourself without anything to do. Many ex-sportsmen go into coaching or management, but some find it difficult to replace the adrenaline rush of performing in front of several thousand people. Below, we take a look at what some of our famous former sportsmen are up to in retirement.
David Beckham
After a playing career which saw him captain his country and play for some of the biggest club teams around the world, David Beckham retired from professional football in 2013. However, it’s his activity away from the football pitch that has seen the England sporting icon become one of the most famous and well-loved celebrities on the planet.
Beckham has appeared in movies, television programs and written several books. He’s a figurehead for fashion, an international sex symbol and associated with some of the biggest companies on the planet. Currently, he tours the world as an ambassador for UNICEF and is in the process of setting up an MLS franchise team in Miami, which will join the MLS within the next two years.
Carl Froch
Four-time World Champion Froch went out on a high in 2014, knocking out George Groves in front of 80,000 raucous fans at Wembley Stadium, the biggest bout in British boxing history back in 2014.
There has been plenty of talk about a possible comeback since he officially hung up his gloves, but that doesn’t look like it’s happening anytime soon, as Froch has got plenty on his schedule already. Alongside his work as a Boxing analyst on Sky Sports, he is an ambassador for PartyPoker and has recently announced a move into acting, with rumours of a film debut alongside Jason Statham making the rounds in recent months.
Matt Dawson
Since retirement, the World Cup winning scrum half followed the well-trodden path into television, but he hasn’t just restricted himself to the field of sports. As well as appearing on Strictly Come Dancing in 2006, he also won that year’s series of Celebrity MasterChef. This has led to a career tangent which has seen Dawson host plenty of food-based programs, including Monster Munchies and Mitch and Matt’s Big Fish, which he presented with respected seafood chef Mitch Tonks. Currently he can be seen alongside Phil Tufnell as a captain on A Question of Sport and marketing his own range of Bioglan Superfood Supplements.
Steve Davis
Davis announced during this year’s World Championships that he would finally be retiring from the sport he helped pioneer during the 80’s and 90’s. Naturally he will still be involved in the game in a media capacity, but his next move came as a shock to everyone. Steve “Interesting” Davis is now a techno DJ. He’s been working in local radio since 2011, but now he’s fully retired, Davis has taken his record spinning skills on the road. His recent sets at Bloc Festival and at this year’s Glastonbury featured an eclectic mix of underground styles, earning him plenty of plaudits from experts in the music community.