BEING a pro footballer around Christmas might be the most depressing time of your life. I’m not asking for huge amounts of sympathy. We are very privileged people who get paid extremely well, so I don’t expect the tiny violins to be coming out. But it is not an easy time. Your whole family is buzzing — the Pringles are out, the wine, the beers.
![[Footballers do not get time off during Christmas]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2024-leicesters-jordan-ayew-premier-960090953.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
So many things that you would normally enjoy but just know you cannot do it. I remember as a footballer having Christmas dinner and knowing we were playing a game the next day. I would have to ask for a third of what I would normally stuff on my plate. Now I am retired — my first Christmas away from the game for nearly 20 years — I asked my family to give me a third more than I can even stomach.
![[Brighton and Hove Albion were visited by the Grinch]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/carlos-baleba-solly-march-adam-960087968.jpg?strip=all&w=773)
I was so excited and loved it. But as a professional player, you would be counting how many potatoes you have eaten. CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS. Then the club nutritionists would be on to you. I used to have to jump in the gym straight after my turkey dinner.
![[Cody Gakpo was one of the scorers on Boxing Day]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/18-cody-gakpo-celebrates-scoring-959949270_720d66.jpg?strip=all&w=640)
Usually, if we had an away game on Boxing Day, we would have to train in the late afternoon or early evening on Christmas Day — and then it was straight to wherever the hotel was. I’d get up in the morning on Christmas Day, do stuff with the kids, have a light breakfast, probably run a 5k on the treadmill, then the family came over to have dinner but you are always watching the time.
