The Other Half: Families And Football’s Transfer Window 

Published on 09 February, 2024 | Matt Hodgson

Football, as many a player, manager and pundit has reminded us, is a game of two halves.

Whilst that usually applies to the duration of games, it can be interpreted in another sense.

When they step outside the white lines of some of the most hallowed stadia in the sport, thousands of players within the ranks of the professional men’s and women’s game in England are not just able to call upon the support of their clubs’ fans but their own families.

The modern game in which they ply their trade is as fluid in the transfer market as it is in terms of the tactics used.

By the time some of those fortunate enough to make up football’s elite have hung up their boots, they will have represented a number of teams at home and abroad.

It is a reality which is given particular prominence at two points during the year – during the January and summer transfer windows.

Whilst fans and media consider only the fevered speculation about big money signings, players and the families must be prepared to move to different clubs, homes, schools and even countries at relatively short notice.

That is a fact which gives something of a personal context to the £100 million gross expenditure by Premier League clubs alone last month (https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/press-releases/articles/premier-league-spending-falls.html).

Although a significant drop on the year before, it still represents no little change in the lives of stars, partners and children.

Even if families stay put while players go on the road to take up contracts elsewhere in the UK or overseas, the strain of a long-distance relationship can create tensions of its own.

That kind of pressure can undermine attempts by even very experienced professionals like Jordan Henderson to settle into a new environment (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-12972683/Jordan-Henderson-LEAVE-Saudi-Al-Ettifaq-Ajax.html).

It’s perhaps hardly surprising that living at home and playing away can compound the stress of top level competition in a manner which may seem extreme when compared to the general population.

Last year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released data showing that 41 per cent of marriages in England and Wales had ended in divorce within 25 years of a couple tying the knot (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/divorce/bulletins/divorcesinenglandandwales/2021).

However, research has suggested that one-third of married professional footballers are divorced within a year of retiring from the game. Within three years, that figure rises to nearly three-quarters.

It is one reason why the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) has partnered with a group representing the wives and partners of players in order to help each understand and cope with the issues which can arise (https://www.thepfa.com/news/2021/10/14/pfa-announce-lifestyled-club-partnership).

As the game and the careers within it have become truly global, those issues have assumed a greater degree of complexity.

Just as the tactics favoured by managers differ, so difficulties in these relationships often straddle different jurisdictions and require delicate handling to resolve.

That is well known to myself and many of colleagues within Hall Brown who have amassed considerable experience of helping many hundreds of players, football’s administrators and their families over the years.

Such is the amount of attention devoted to football by media and fans around the world that it can be take no little effort to remember that even famous, feted players are human too and have to deal with the same problems as the rest of us.

A bit of perspective is valuable when we all reflect on football, whether during the transfer windows or across the rest of the season.

Changing city or country can be incredibly satisfying and bring all kinds of rewards and renown.

However, as many of the game’s leading lights acknowledge, recognising the right time get help with off-pitch problems can have just as much benefit for players as the ability to pick the perfect pass.