How Do Footballers Spend Their Spare Time?

People can spend their childhood and some of their adulthood dreaming of playing professional football for one of the world’s top clubs. Scoring the winner in a big game sounds like a fantastic job, but what else do players get to do?

Footballers are not that different from anyone else and do many of the same things everyone does but a lot more extravagantly. Here is a look at how footballers spend their spare time.

Travel Time is Spent Scrolling and Tapping

Whatever level a player is playing at, they will be spending some time on the road. For the big boys of European football, time is spent in the air instead. The situation they find themselves in is the same; players are stuck in a chair for a few hours.

Footballers will do the same things that many people do on their commutes to work, scroll through social media, and play on their phones, all while listening to music. If you see the footage of players arriving at a stadium on the TV you will see nearly all of them wearing expensive headphones, listening to tunes.

Many players enjoy playing on gaming sites on long trips. They look for the best gambling sites just like the rest of us do. You can look here for impartial information regarding gaming sites if you have a long journey or even on your daily trip to work and back.

The players with a large social media following will use their travel time to keep fans updated on the journey. Their accounts are usually closely monitored by their clubs though. Many players will have social media managers, as well as publicists, that check tweets and Instagram posts before sharing.

Football is Not Their Only Sport

Athletes cannot help themselves. They spend all week playing and practising a sport, and then they will devote a large part of their spare time to another. The biggest second sport amongst footballers is golf, and players can quite just as competitive with each other on the golf course as they do on the football pitch.

Players golf together a lot, and players from different teams will golf competitively sometimes. Golf is a game you can play on your own too. Some footballers spend a little too much time playing 18-holes. A recent example was Gareth Bale at Real Madrid, who asked to be left out of a Champions League game only to be spotted hours later on a golf course while his teammates travelled.

Footballers play a lot of other sports too but must be careful. There is a clause in most football contracts that stipulates players must avoid dangerous activities that can cause an injury.

This keeps them away from extreme sports like snowboarding, but also physically intensive sports like rugby. Golf is so popular with players because it is easy going and they are much less likely to injure themselves. It also honours their expensive contracts, and they are less likely to spend time injured on the bench.

Playing on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC

Videogames are a popular pass time, especially amongst the younger players. They may play the latest FIFA game against each other online, and maybe some fans have beaten their idols in some matches too.

They play many of the same titles everyone else does, like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto, and can play online anonymously, hiding behind a username. This can be a terrific way for players to unwind and relieve the pressure that comes from playing football at the highest level and being a professional sports star.

Fortnite is a smash-hit online game that has caused problems in the Premier League. Some players have had to be treated for addiction to the game, and it was interfering with their focus and training schedule. This problem has reared its head in the game before, with Liverpool goalkeeper David James attributing poor performances in the league to playing Tomb Raider on the original PlayStation.

Younger footballers coming through the ranks have been playing video games all their life now and continue playing when they turn professional. Now videogame addiction is replacing the drug and alcohol addiction problems that plagued Premier League teams in the 1990s.

Working for Charities

Every top club has associations with important charities. Player's contracts will often ensure they have to contribute some of their time and fame to support local children’s hospitals for example. Some players will only satisfy their contractual obligations and then move on, but many continue to support the charities as well as others that they have chosen themselves.

Regular financial donations are just the start for some footballers, with many using their social media clout and their contacts in the press to publicise charities. This can be a massive boost to many worthy causes, as the big-name players always attract a lot of attention and help bring both financial support and volunteers to their doors.

Keeping Fit and Eating Healthily

Footballers will spend a lot of their time at work training, exercising, and monitoring their nutrition. The top clubs keep a close eye on their player’s eating and workout regimes to maintain peak levels of fitness and help them to recover after an injury.

Many players take these habits back home with them, especially as they get a little older. The career of a football player is a short one. From turning professional at 18 most players only have around 20 years to earn enough money to last the rest of their lives. Playing at the highest level does not last forever either, many players will drop down to lower leagues in their thirties and will earn less as a result.

The footballers who spend time at home maintaining their nutritional plan, staying fit with cardio, and doing some yoga, will usually have a longer career and keep playing in the top leagues. Players still having a place in a top-level squad while in their late thirties is becoming common.

There you have it. Being a professional footballer seems like it is all fun and games, and it pretty much is. Players need to make the most of it when they can though. Their careers do not last long.

Image Credit