Instagram story viewer> @plyr.pathways> Posts

PLYR. PATHWAYS

@plyr.pathways

172

followers

643

following

Transition Pathways for the Modern Footballer
For Players, Clubs & Associations
1:1 Coaching + Masterclasses
FIFA | ADPL | CIPD | MA
By @_leannanewman

POSTS STORIES REELS

Had a little yap with the Girls Who Ball team over on Substack on all things @the.people.agency @plyr.pathways @hergametoo and being a female entrepreneur leading an all-female team ✨ Go take a read.. #plyrpathways #lifeafterfootball #beyondfootball #careertransition by @plyr.pathways

Leanna has spent her career in senior HR roles at some of the world’s biggest companies, like Apple, LVMH and Selfridges.

For the last five years, she’s been building her own people and culture agency out of Dubai, The People Agency.

For the last two, she’s combined those skills to coach elite footballers, helping them prepare for life after football. @plyr.pathways

She writes about all of this in her weekly insights, The Release Clause, on Substack, talking about all things player identity, performance and transition.

She’s also on the advisory board at Her Game Too, which champions representation for women in sport.

Her business was recently incubated by Ethara, and now she’s building an AI, data-driven platform for talent in the sports and entertainment industry.

If you’re in sport, tech or talent, give her a follow and say hello. And if you’re interested in what she’s building, reach out and have a conversation.

Main page: @_leannanewman

#business #sports #tech #talent #businesswomen by @plyr.pathways

Football and corporate have the same development problem.

I’ve spent years watching high performers fail in boardrooms, and the last few watching it happen to players in football.

Neither room has a name for it. But there is a theory that explains it. This week I break down why it happens.

My new weekly issue of The Release Clause is live. Click the link in my bio or story, take a read and let me know what you think!

#LifeAfterFootball #CareerTransition #PlyrPathways #beyondfootball by @plyr.pathways

Well today started off with an unexpected chat 🙊 #lifeafterfootall #careertransition #plyrpathways #beyondfootball by @plyr.pathways

Most players can tell you exactly what time training starts. Very few can tell you the last time they outwardly questioned a decision made about their own career. That’s not an accident. It’s what elite sport is built to produce.

This week I break down why the habit of asking is quietly trained out of players. Link is in the bio ✨

#LifeAfterFootball #CareerTransition #PlyrPathways #BeyondFootball by @plyr.pathways

I’ve been thinking about A Beautiful Obsession all week. Everyone’s talking about what it shows us about Pep Guardiola as a manager.

I watched it as someone who studies people and what stayed with me had very little to do with tactics.

Six lessons in career transition, hiding inside a football documentary.

#LifeAfterFootball #CareerTransition #PlyrPathways #BeyondFootball #ManCity by @plyr.pathways

Four issues deep into The Release Clause. Over 500 people have read my thoughts on career transitions in elite football. Even a few article collaborations in the pipeline.

Not because of any hype. Because career transition, identity and life after football are conversations players actually want to have. They just needed space away from the distractions of normal social media.

To everyone reading, sharing, replying: thank you. This is exactly why I started writing. More every Wednesday. Link in bio.

#LifeAfterFootball #CareerTransition #PlyrPathways #beyondfootball by @plyr.pathways

Every loan spell, you arrive with your old packaging on. The badge, the reputation, the story everyone told about you back home.

But nobody at the new club bought or cares about the packaging. They’re waiting for the new content. What you can actually do, today, with none of your history and who you are.

That’s the real transition test of a loan spell. Not your football. Whether you know what’s left of you once the old packaging’s gone. Can you stand grounded in who you are and then the result will come.

#LifeAfterFootball #CareerTransition #PlyrPathways #BeyondFootball by @plyr.pathways

When people come to me for transition support, the first question I ask isn’t about what’s next. It’s about their connection to self. Because everything external can change in a blink of an eye. Job, title, team, health, an identity built on the praise or feedback of other people. Connection to self and knowing who you are is the one thing that can’t ever be taken.

I often ask myself the same thing. Every client always ask how? My number one go to is exercise. This is how I stay connected to who I am underneath the job title, the business, everything I’ve built. Why? It’s unfiltered feedback. Your body tells you the truth immediately, tired, strong, off, present. No review, no external validation needed. You’ll know.

People first. Self first always.

#LifeAfterFootball #CareerTransition #PlyrPathways #BeyondFootball #FounderJourney by @plyr.pathways

What is “specialised identity & persona”?

It’s what happens when player’s whole sense of self gets built around one role: footballer. Not identity in general, identity narrowed to fit one arena. Especially when they are young.

Years inside an academy. Constant evaluation. Constant validation tied to performance. Under that pressure, players don’t just build football skills. They build a persona to survive it: mentally tough, always composed, never flinching. Going again and again.

That persona gets rewarded so consistently, it stops being a trait. It becomes the whole identity.

The problem? A persona built for one arena doesn’t transfer when that arena disappears.

Injury. Release. Retirement.

It’s not just losing a job. It’s losing the version of yourself the system spent years building.

#LifeAfterFootball #CareerTransition #PlyrPathways #BeyondFootball by @plyr.pathways

What do you do for fun? This apparently. July was certified 10/10! More of this energy, please ✨

#LifeAfterFootball #CareerTransition #PlyrPathways #BeyondFootball #FounderJourney by @plyr.pathways

Being frozen out in football was never just discipline. It was a duty of care failure football didn’t have a name for. Now it does… Abusive conduct. January 2027 the rules are changing.

But the rule doesn’t undo what isolation does to a person. That’s the part still on us. That is the part money cannot fix.

#LifeAfterFootball #CareerTransition #PlyrPathways #BeyondFootball by @plyr.pathways