Curtis Anderson: The World Cup winner who quit football to help next generation

When the coronavirus lockdown left Anderson unable to find a new club, he started wondering how the money he had earned at City had dwindled away.

“I remember being 17 and not knowing what to do with the money, it was a daunting thing,” he says.

Anderson passed accountancy and finance exams after contacting the Professional Footballers’ Association for guidance.

He decided that path wasn’t for him, which led to him shadowing a financial adviser near his parents’ house.

He’s worked in financial planning and advice ever since, turning down several offers to return to the Football League as his heart wasn’t in it.

His new pursuit provided a level of control and security – as well as purpose – that playing lower-league football could not.

“At Wycombe, I’d get questions from older players,” he says. “I realised there is a lack of education and support about finance in football.

“There’s not enough education, guidance and support for young people with high earnings.

“If you’re a lower-league player, your immediate priority should be to plan for life after football. If you’ve got that sorted, you can set yourself and your family up for years.

“I look at what I know now and feel like I need to help as many people in football as I can.”

But when he sees his former England team-mates succeeding at the top of the game, does he have any regrets?

“I’m proud to see them doing so well, I don’t sit there and think I wish I was doing that, or what could have been,” he says.

“I’ve got no regrets and I’m not envious. I just stopped enjoying it. If you offered to put me in their situations now, playing week-in week-out in the Premier League, I wouldn’t trade that for what I’m doing now.

“When I look at my football career, it gave me the opportunity to do what I do now. There aren’t many financial advisers under 25 – or not many good ones anyway!”