7 Former EFL Players With Unusual Careers After Football

Lee Boywer battling an Arsenal side while at Birmingham, credit: WikiCommons (Ronnie Macdonald)

Once a player hangs up their football boots for good it's not unusual to see them stick with the beautiful game in a coaching role, scouting or a punditry capacity. While that may be the favoured route it certainly isn't for everyone as we look at seven former EFL players who's careers took an unorthodox turn after football.


1) Lee Bowyer, Fishing - (Charlton, Leeds, West Ham, Newcastle and Ipswich)

 To most Lee Bowyer is perhaps an unusual inclusion on this list seeing as the former midfielder is manager of current Championship side Charlton Athletic. However, upon calling a day on his playing career the ex-Leeds favourite turned to another passion of his, fishing.

That's right three years after concluding his career at Ipswich Town Bowyer left football to run his own carp fishing lake in France. The water is packed with 200 carp on 12 acres of his land.

Bowyer has renamed the lake 'Etang de Bows', which translates as Bow's Lake and at stages has had a two year waiting list - meaning when he wasn't at the helm of the Addicks Bowyer could only use his own lake in winter.



2) Jimmy Kebe, Poker - (Reading, Crystal Palace and Leeds)

 A player who's most iconic moment was pulling his socks up against West Ham has taken the unusual step of now pulling up wins at the Casino table post football by becoming a professional poker player.

The former Reading fan-favourite was forced to retire early and chose to follow, like Bowyer, another passion of his in poker. The ex-winger first recorded a tournament cash win in 2014 and has been competing ever since in various competitions across the globe.

One of his biggest wins came last year when the Malian pocketed £75,000 at a tournament in Morocco.


3) Curtis Woodhouse, Boxer - (Sheffield United, Birmingham, Rotherham, Peterborough, Hull, Grimsby)

 Swapping the hallowed turf for the canvas is former midfielder Curtis Woodhouse with a boxing career. The now 40-year-old boosts a record of 31 fights with 24 wins, 13 by KO, after calling a day on not only his playing career but also brief managerial career further down the divisions.

It is worth noting that interestingly Woodhouse mixed boxing and football together towards the end of his playing career and is a former British Welterweight Champion.


4) Jody Craddock, Artist - (Cambridge, Sunderland, Sheffield United, Wolves and Stoke)

 Jody Craddock is a former centre-back who has featured in the Premier League as well as divisions below and once the hammer came down on his playing days the Englishman turned from the art of football to the art of painting.

While on the pitch Craddock wasn't the most creative player it seems that isn't the case with a brush and canvas. The former Wolves star's interest in art dates back to his younger days and he even painted a commemorative print to celebrate Wolves' return to top-flight football in 2009.

Craddock's work has featured in the Arthouse gallery in London, whose website is offering the purchase of some pieces for £425.
5) Kevin Kyle, Darts (Sunderland, Huddersfield, Rochdale and Coventry and Wolves)

Scottish striker Kevin Kyle swapped firing shots at goalkeepers to firing shots at a dartboard once his days on the pitch concluded. The former-Scotland international has since taken up darts and even competed in the BDO Scottish Darts Open.

While he hasn't made the progress that Gerwyn Price has since quitting Rugby, Kyle ranked 256 in the Scottish Open and beat Richard Veenstra, who was ninth seed in that competition.


 6) Jay Tabb, Horse Racing and Rugby (Brentford, Crawley, Coventry, Reading and Ipswich)

 Since leaving football, Jay Tabb's career has taken two eyebrow-raising turns in playing rugby and then into the horse industry. Tabb quit football in 2016 due to injury and in 2017 he just Rugby Union side Old Wimbledonians - Wimbledon being where he grew up.

Since then his career has taken another turn as the former midfielder has started working as a stable lad for trainer Philip Hobbs and was even interviewed as part of ITV's coverage of Cheltenham earlier this year. In retirement he has also been involved in golf (behind the scenes) and carpentry.

7) Arjan de Zeeuw, Detective (Barnsley, Wigan, Portsmouth and Coventry)

 Former Dutch footballer Arjan de Zeeuw played his last game in 2009 for ADO'20, an amateur team in his homeland, and since then has turned from solving how to stop strikers scoring against him to solving crimes as an investigative detective - specialising in forensics.

The former centre-back, who was once described by Tony Blair as his favourite football player in 2005, completed a medical degree before his football career and has put that into use in forensics. The bullish defender can be seen nowadays solving crimes in his hometown of Alkmaar where he has said his football training came in useful when chasing a suspect fleeing the scene of a crime.



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By Sam Greasley-Machin




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