Alfie Whiteman, the former Tottenham goalkeeper, has called time on his playing career at just 27 years of age. The shot-stopper made the decision at the end of last season when he was merely 26. Whiteman, who was a member of the Europa League-winning squad, had been at Spurs since joining their youth setup before securing his maiden professional deal.
Throughout his time at Tottenham, he enjoyed two temporary moves - both to Swedish club Degerfors - but struggled to establish himself in the senior side and frequently found himself well down the hierarchy. His lack of first-team opportunities led him to pursue alternative interests, including drama lessons, media work, and photography.
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According to The Athletic, Whiteman had expected to continue his footballing journey following his release from Spurs at the end of last season.
Nevertheless, the keeper chose to retire on his own terms during the summer and is now forging a career in photography, admitting he felt unfulfilled as a professional footballer.
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He revealed: "I signed for Spurs at 10 years old. Then I left school at 16 and went straight into this full-time life of football.
"When I was around 17 or 18, living in digs, I just had this feeling inside of, 'Is this it?' Getting on the mini bus, going to training, doing the Sports Science BTEC and going home to play video games.
"I realised, 'Oh, I'm not happy here' from quite a young age. The stereotype of a footballer is generally quite true. It's the golf, washbag culture.
"I was that young footballer. I wanted the Gucci washbag and I drove the Mercedes. You all just become a reflection of each other.
"You're a product of your environment. It's the way football is in this country, it's so shut off from anything else. You go to training and then you go home, that's it."
Whiteman went on to say: "Football is a short career regardless, even if you do really well, and I knew that I didn't want to stay in it.
"It was about trying to gain experience and be proactive in learning about these things I was also interested in, but mainly because I was enjoying it, and was surrounded by the kinds of people that were doing what I enjoyed as a job.
"They were making things. It was really inspiring."