How can we better help athletes to prepare for the “after-life”?

Wednesday, 27 March 2019 Author: Julian Pike

The statistics after a professional football career, tell their own story: one in two are divorced within two years; one in five are bankrupt within five years; and in 2016 more than 140 former players were behind bars.

What most research, anecdotal and empirical, shows, is the loss of identity an athlete suffers on their professional career ending, all the more so if it is ended suddenly through injury. The "thing" that has defined the very essence of who they are is taken away from them, sometimes brutally. This sense of loss, for some compared to bereavement, is unsurprising.

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Tags: Athlete Welfare | Duty of Care | Football | Premier League | United Kingdom (UK)

Written by

Julian Pike

Partner, Farrer & Co

Julian’s reputation management practice is very highly-regarded and benefits from his specialist expertise in the sports sector, where he acts for a host of national governing bodies, household name clubs and high-profile sports men and women.

Julian advises individuals, corporate institutions and charities across a range of industry sectors on all aspects of reputation management. Working almost exclusively with claimants, he acts for individuals and organisations that find themselves the subject of unwanted attention, whether from mainstream, online or broadcast media, or in some instances, obsessed or campaigning individuals.