The career trajectory of the professional rugby player – indeed, of any professional sportsman or woman – is a strange one. Your peak earning potential is in your mid to late twenties, and by the time you reach your mid thirties your career as a player is essentially over.
And then, of course, there is the danger that it could all be brought to an end at any moment – one mistimed tackle, one wrong body position in a ruck, and your livelihood is brought to an end by an injury. There is no other profession in the world in which this scenario repeats itself.
The Rugby Blog
These days, what seems like a lot of ex-players make the jump into punditry – either on screen or in the papers – or coaching, but when you actually stop and think about it, the percentage of players who disappear from our TV screens and column inches is significantly higher than those that remain in our consciousness.
One such example is ex-Leicester, Gloucester and England winger Leon Lloyd, who is now chief executive of Legion Worldwide, a vast company that spans many different sectors. Lloyd’s role is in sports and events management, in their rugby agency which counts the likes of Graham Rowntree, Jim Hamilton, Charlie Sharples, Emily Scarratt and Tom Croft as clients.
Lloyd’s playing days were brought to an untimely end through injury, but he had at least enjoyed a full career until that point. When you think of the likes of Tom Rees, Pat McCabe, and Stephen Ferris, to name but a few whose playing days have been cut tragically short, you begin to realise how insecure one’s livelihood is in this line of work.
Lloyd speaks candidly about the period after he was forced to retire.
“I went through a bit of a dark time to be honest. All of a sudden you get injured and you no longer need to go to training and you don’t find out what the boys are doing, you’re not invited to the team outings, and you become quite lonely. You realise who your real friends are.
“For about four months I didn’t really socialise, I just stayed in, drank a little bit, ate a bit more, didn’t really do any training so I became a bit… I wouldn’t say depressed, I don’t think that’s the right word. I’d say it was just a dark time.”
He might not want to use the word depressed, but depression among retired sportsman is an important issue. And why wouldn’t it be? All of a sudden you are thrust into the ‘real world’, something which playing rugby for a living most certainly isn’t. You go from being part of the most-tight knit group of colleagues around, to having to completely reinvent yourself on your own.
“The thing that hit me quite hard was not being part of a squad. Having been part of a squad since the age of 16, all of a sudden I haven’t got somebody telling me where I’ve got to be, what clothes I’ve got the wear, what food I’ve got to eat. All of a sudden you’ve got to make all of those decisions, and that was what I wasn’t prepared for.
“It sounds quite strange, but it was quite weird not having that direction. You are properly in a bubble. You are told where to be and when – all you’ve got to do is bring your boots.”
Despite going through a dark time, Lloyd was better prepared for the rigours of post-sport life than most. He realised early on what a great opportunity he had as a professional sportsman to use the access he had to people to set himself up for later life. Now, firmly established with a thriving career, that is the lesson he underlines as being crucial for any professional sports player.
“There are so many opportunities out there, around you, as a professional sports person – people who sponsor the boxes, people who come to watch the games, all the media. They’re the things that current players and athletes should embrace massively.
“Rather than thinking ‘it’s a pain in the backside’ that you’ve got to go and do corporate work when you’re injured or when you’re not being picked, see it as an opportunity to potentially meet your future employer, or business partner.
“A lot of the people who I work with now and the guys that I talk to on the phone, are guys who I met during my rugby career.”
Speaking to Lloyd it is obvious how important he thinks this point is – he cannot recommend enough that players start thinking about their life after rugby at the earliest possible opportunity. After all, they can’t all become coaches.
“I’d recommend to any player who’s still playing now to think about life after sport, because you’re a long time retired. Everyone has to take a job with a salary when they’ve finished, and there are only so many Strictly Come Dancing shows out there for people to go on.
“There are only so many coaching positions available as well – everyone sort of thinks ‘Oh, I’m going to go into coaching’ but just because you’re a good player doesn’t mean you’re going to be a good coach. And even if you are a good coach, you’ve still got to start at the bottom.”
Lloyd’s story is, ultimately, an immensely successful one, and an example that any current players would do well to follow. As we part ways, the former England winger has one final warning: make sure you work hard, and do not expect things to just happen for you because of who you are.
“The downside is that many think because they’ve met all these people, they’re just going to give them a job, just because of who they are. That’s not right – you still need to have a skill. Just because you’re Leon Lloyd doesn’t mean you’re going to get a job in banking.”