Retirement is a difficult thing for anybody to process.
I’ve seen and heard of players struggling to cope after they’ve called time on their football career, just because of the change in lifestyle. It’s massive and it can hit people hard. For the vast majority of them, though, at least they can look back on all the years they’ve spent doing what they love.
As a goalkeeper especially, I thought that 40 was a realistic target for my retirement. You tend to get those extra years because you’re not doing as much running as the outfield lads.