In the wise words of a pessimist: You cannot prolong the inevitable. It happens to all of us, none of us look forward to it and some even try to deny, but age eventually creeps up on us all. Football is a relatively short career, in your mid to late 30s your speed starts to diminish, your muscle density starts to decrease, you feel the ache of the previous game/training session more than ever; at this point that nagging thought can creep into your head – is it time to call it a day?
With the improvements in training methods and advances in medicine and science, football is welcoming a new type of player – the resurgence man. Many players who are considered past their best and placed on football’s scrapheap are demonstrating that hitting 35 is not a career-ender. We can all think of at least one of these players, someone widely to be considered a has-been that did not accept that enough is enough.
Ryan Giggs was labelled "finished" shortly after his 30th birthday, with a transfer to Bolton Wanderers on the cards in the summer of 2004, few could have imagined what would happen next: over 300 games, over 40 goals, 4 Premier League winners medals, 3 League Cups, 3 Community Shields, 1 FA Cup, 1 Champions League, PFA Players’ Player of the Year, and a 1 year contract extension at the age of 38.
Giggs is not an anomaly – Clarence Seedorff continues to be instrumental at AC Milan, Raul has a new lease of live at Schalke, Frank Lampard is still scoring for Chelsea, Paul Scholes is showing that his decision to retire at 36 was very premature, Brad Friedel is as agile as ever, the list continues to grow year by year.
If players take advantage of the improvements in medicine and training techniques, if they allow themselves adequate rest for recovery, if they look after their diet then age loses the upper hand in the battle to end a career. Science and medicine can only do so much, two more ingredients are essential; determination and desire. Without the drive to want to carry on playing the battle is lost, but add these essentials to science and medicine and it will only be a matter of time before 40 really does become the new 30.
It appears you can prolong the inevitable!
Davie Weir is another great example.
ReplyDeleteIn January 2007, Davie Weir joined Rangers to fill in for a few months until the end of the season, a chance to wear the famous blue shirts of his boyhood heroes before retiring. He eventually left Rangers 5 years later, at almost 42 years old having played 231 times for Rangers. In that period he had won:
3 SPL titles
2 Scottish Cups
3 Scottish League Cups
1 UEFA Cup Runners-up
And won the 2010 SPL player of the year at the age of 40.
He is currently still registered as player/coach at Everton