Retirement can be a daunting prospect in any profession -- the loss of income, the sense of the best days being in the past, the need to search for a new purpose -- but it can also offer new opportunities and a release from the day-to-day pressure of a working environment.
For a professional footballer, though, retirement often comes before most people have even started to climb the career ladder.
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A select few reach the top, enjoy success and receive the kind of earnings that allow them to retire in their mid-30s and enjoy a life of leisure and contentment.