For the majority of professional footballers, there are a number of avenues to take when retiring from the beautiful game. Many stars to play in the Premier League tend to either try their hand at punditry once they’ve hung their boots up or look at a career in coaching. The likes of Alan Shearer, Micah Richards, Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville have all become synonymous with their work as pundits, while Mikel Arteta, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney are all examples of stars now working as managers in the sport.
Some former pros, though, go down different routes entirely. While they played in some of the biggest leagues in the world during their careers, some ex-footballers moved away from directly working in the sport once they called time on their playing days and moved into different avenues. Mathieu Flamini moved into the biochemical business after he stopped playing football, becoming a billionaire in the process.
Another former Premier League player who has gone down a unique path now that his playing days are over is Anders Lindegaard. The former Manchester United man’s career has taken a very interesting turn.
Anders Lindegaard’s Manchester United Career
He won a Premier League title
After spending a season at Aalesund in Norway, Lindegaard moved to United in 2010. He arrived with Edwin van der Sar in control of the starting goalkeeper spot at the club, though, so his minutes were limited from the off. In his first campaign at the Red Devils, the shot-stopper played just two games.
One year later, the arrival of David de Gea meant his chances of becoming United’s number-one were even slimmer, but he did feature more prominently. His second season at the club saw him play 11 times and he went one better a year later, when he played 13 games for the team. That 2012-13 campaign also saw him win a Premier League title.
He also won two Community Shields during his time with the Red Devils, but failed to ever really solidify himself as the first-choice goalkeeper at the club. In 2015, he left the team and joined West Bromwich Albion. He departed having played just 29 games in five years for United, but no one can take away the fact that he got to lift the Premier League trophy.
Lindegaard Works in a Bank Now
After hanging his gloves up for good, Lindegaard landed a job with global investment bank UBS. In the role, he will advise top-level footballers and other sportspeople for the company. As quoted by The Sun, the former goalkeeper spoke about his new career choice and said:
“New beginnings, new job, new career. My role is to help the bank better understand successful athletes, and provide them with meaningful and valuable service from the leading asset manager. I will always be an athlete by nature. Helping other athletes navigate through their sports adventures seems both natural and meaningful to me. In that way I see myself and my role as being employed by UBS, but I work for the athletes.
“For me personally this is the start of a different career. I always wanted to stay in football, but I didn’t want to work on the pitch. I’ve been doing this all my life, and now I think it’s time to try something new. It’s not easy to retire from professional sports. It is undoubtedly a high-risk moment in every athlete’s life. I am proud to have made what for me is a successful transition.”
Lindegaard’s Later Years
He played for three more English sides
After leaving United, Lindegaard moved to West Brom, but failed to make a single league appearance for the Baggies. He only played one game for the club before they loaned him to Preston North End in the Championship. After making a handful of appearances for the Lancashire-based team, he signed permanently in 2017.
He spent another season flirting with breaking into the first-team, but ultimately played just 10 times that year and it wasn’t long before he was on the move again. His next move was a short one, jumping across Lancashire to Burnley and he represented the Claret and Blues for a couple of years, but never made it into a Premier League game for the team. Eventually, he headed to Sweden.
In 2019, Lindegaard joined Helsingborg, heading to Sweden for the first time in his career. In his first campaign in Allsvenskan, he played 11 times for the side and actually managed to score a goal for the team, the first of his career. He then really came into his own during his second season. He played 30 times during the 2020/21 campaign, but things unraveled the following season and he played just five times before he called time on his career.
All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt