| David
Johnson - from football star to uncertain future |
Beyond
footballWhen Nottingham Forest striker David Johnson was told his career
was over it was a shock. At 30 he hadn't banked on ending his playing days
so soon. And now he doesn't know what to do with the rest of his working
life. David turns reporter for Inside Out while he weighs up his options
for the future. As Gordon Taylor, the Chief Executive of the Professional
Football Association (PFA) tells Inside Out: "For most
players it's like a cold shower. And I've known many who have cracked and can't
cope with life away from the game".
Short careerThe
average career of a footballer is just eight years. But many like David
Johnson don't plan ahead - he went into football with no qualifications. | David
Johnson - currently coaching at Nottingham Forest |
David knew
he was a good player and thought he could survive with football alone. But
he was forced to retire in 2006 after failing to recover from a back injury. Johnson
made 323 club appearances during his professional career, and won five caps for
Jamaica. He was lucky to play until he was 29-years-old, despite his career
being cut short by injury. Only one in six players who go into the game
at 16 are still playing when they are 21. The story of retired footballers
looking for a purpose in life has been around for a long time. But only
now are the Professional Football Association starting to send help in to advise
players about their future. Superstar strikerTommy Lawton was a
superstar in his day. | Tommy
Lawton - from football heaven to personal problems |
He was
a prolific goal scorer for every club side he represented as well as for England.
When Tommy signed for Notts County in 1947 it was a sensation. The
team were in the old Third Division and Tommy was still playing for England. When
his playing days ended, he returned to Notts County as manager. But relegation
led to his sacking and a slide in his personal life which eventually saw him jailed. Retirement
woesDuring the making of the film David Johnson also looks at how difficult
it is for football's so-called 'bad boys' who haven't made full use of the good
money there is to be earned during a playing career. | "I've
known many who have cracked and can't cope with life away from the game." Gordon
Taylor | Shane Nicholson
on life after football |
Everyone has heard of George
Best and Paul Gascoigne's woes. But there are also those whose careers could
have reached greater heights. For Shane Nicholson who started with Lincoln
City at 16 the money and time on his hands, even at the foot of the professional
ladder, led him to alcohol and drug abuse. This eventually left him facing
a lifetime ban when he was caught. For those players who have blown their
money, the future can be bleak when they can't play. But Inside Out discovers
that with the help of the PFA and rehab, Shane Nicholson is still playing at 36
and knows exactly what he wants to do in the future... He wants to stop
people making the same mistakes he made. Success storiesThen there
are the success stories off the pitch as well as on it.
One name still
with a high profile in Nottinghamshire is Gary Lund - but not maybe for his goal
scoring feats for Notts County in the '90s. | Gary
Lund - from football pitch to pitching for business |
Gary now
runs his own Estate Agents. He advises anyone starting out to:
"Think of life beyond the game. "You never know when your career
will end or when a club decides to drop you. "I knew I didn't want
the insecurity of life in football management so I made plans."
As
for David Johnson, he is undecided on where to go next with his career. He's
currently coaching Forest's Under 12's until his contract runs out in March 2007. Then聟
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