0:00:08 > 0:00:11CHEERING
0:00:11 > 0:00:17And joy for every England player on the field.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21In top-level sport, you live for the big moment.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25Your career is defined as much by the highs...
0:00:25 > 0:00:29Tony Adams, oh, what a finish!
0:00:29 > 0:00:31What a way to clinch the championship.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34..as it is by the lows.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36You cannot be serious.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38That ball was on the line.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41You ride the wave they create
0:00:41 > 0:00:44until suddenly, one day, it's all over.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48And as they say, you're a long time retired.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00When the day came for me to announce my retirement as England
0:01:00 > 0:01:03cricket captain, I was shocked at how emotional I felt.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09I thought I'd prepared myself, I thought I could handle it easily.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11How wrong was I!
0:01:11 > 0:01:14And I know how proud my mum and dad have been.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19'My reaction to this life-changing moment surprised me,
0:01:19 > 0:01:24'and ever since, I've wondered if others had felt the same way.'
0:01:26 > 0:01:29Over the past few months, I've been meeting a few sports stars
0:01:29 > 0:01:32to see how they cope with retirement.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36I've done pretty much everything I've said that I would not do.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39What are they doing now?
0:01:39 > 0:01:41How have they come to terms with their new lives?
0:01:41 > 0:01:45Being in intensive care, not even being able to speak,
0:01:45 > 0:01:48is a pretty tough pill to swallow.
0:01:48 > 0:01:53There's a numbness, in the sense, what do I do, what can I do, who am I?
0:01:53 > 0:01:57I still have moments where I just go, "I have a baby, oh my God,
0:01:57 > 0:01:59"what am I doing?"
0:01:59 > 0:02:02I also talked to others on the verge of retirement
0:02:02 > 0:02:04to see if they realise what's in store.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07I could be stacking shelves in Morrisons if I don't pull my finger out.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11I just can't leave it alone. It's like a drug to me, I'm obsessed.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15That fix, how do you get that elsewhere?
0:02:15 > 0:02:17Do you get it from alcohol, from drugs,
0:02:17 > 0:02:18from pulling girls?
0:02:18 > 0:02:22I haven't retired, I don't even think the word.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26I don't accept anything. Maybe because I don't feel unfulfilled.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34"Thinking too much about what will happen in the future.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38"What will I do after cricket? Do I still want all this?"
0:02:38 > 0:02:43This is what I wrote a year before I resigned the England captaincy.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45I didn't think
0:02:45 > 0:02:48I was that close to retirement. But these things happen so fast.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52Retirement is a tough decision for anyone,
0:02:52 > 0:02:54but whereas most people do it in their 60s,
0:02:54 > 0:02:57in professional sport you do it at half that age.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02I think I've made the transition quite well,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05but because I planned for it, it was easier to let go.
0:03:07 > 0:03:12I wanted to find out if other sports people could actually live without their sport.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19I'm 11 years down the road from retirement.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22I was ready at the end, very similar to yourself.
0:03:22 > 0:03:28I'd done everything that I wanted to do. And it didn't make me sad.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32Tony Adams! Oh, what a finish!
0:03:32 > 0:03:35What a way to clinch the championship.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39Tony Adams, Arsenal and England hero, overcame alcoholism
0:03:39 > 0:03:41while he was still playing.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43That fight and battle put him in good stead
0:03:43 > 0:03:44for when he finished his playing days.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48I had six years, I think, from when I sobered up to when I retired
0:03:48 > 0:03:50to get to know a little bit about me.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54I lived on my own, I got divorced in that period.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57I had six years living on my own in Putney, southwest London,
0:03:57 > 0:03:59getting to know Tony, warts and all.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01Sometimes it was a bit scary.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04But I kind of was ready, learnt a few tools,
0:04:04 > 0:04:06and then the retirement happened.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09What tools did you learn in that six-year period?
0:04:09 > 0:04:14You know, how to deal with normal stuff, feelings, you know.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18The best thing about my recovery is that I've got my feelings back.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22But the worst thing about my recovery is that I've got my feelings back.
0:04:22 > 0:04:27There's anger, there's lust, there's millions of stuff that's in there.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30I was an emotional cripple, you know.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33Emotional intelligence is something that I've learnt
0:04:33 > 0:04:37over the last...learnt over the last 15 years.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43Tony set up the Sporting Chance Clinic to help other sportsmen and women
0:04:43 > 0:04:45struggling with addiction.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48When a sports person, amateur of professional, comes in here
0:04:48 > 0:04:53and wants residential treatment, usually they do it 28 days.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57They'll stay in these cottages, in the offices as well.
0:04:58 > 0:05:03I love today. I'm an upright, breathing... Life is fantastic.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06- I can do anything that I want to do today.- Would you do it again?
0:05:06 > 0:05:08Oh, like a shot.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10Like a shot. I wouldn't change one bit.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13So you'd go back, centre half, head the ball again.
0:05:13 > 0:05:14Of course. Who wouldn't?
0:05:14 > 0:05:18Do you wish your body was good enough still to play in the Premier league?
0:05:18 > 0:05:19I reckon I can do it!
0:05:19 > 0:05:21I know you can't, but do you wish you could?
0:05:21 > 0:05:25- Have you seen me lately? - You're looking trim, but you can't.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30His search for the better life has taken him
0:05:30 > 0:05:32from the pitch into the dugout.
0:05:34 > 0:05:39Is coaching and managing the nearest thing to playing?
0:05:39 > 0:05:41Just because you did it don't mean you can pass it on.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43I spoke to Mourinho about this and he said,
0:05:43 > 0:05:48"You've got to forget what you've been doing for the past 20 years, playing,
0:05:48 > 0:05:50"cos that's completely different.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52"Your reactions as a player is probably not needed now.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56"It's new things you're going to have to learn."
0:05:57 > 0:06:03In 2010, he accepted an invitation to build a new club - FC Gabala,
0:06:03 > 0:06:062,500 miles away in Azerbaijan.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08Tony Adams!
0:06:08 > 0:06:12I went, "This seems different, something new. I might fancy this."
0:06:12 > 0:06:17And another big reason was the anonymity.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20I could just be free to go and make mistakes, learn my trade
0:06:20 > 0:06:21and build a football club.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23Tony has moved out of the dugout now,
0:06:23 > 0:06:26but he's still an adviser at Gabala.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28I can't help feeling he'll be involved with the game
0:06:28 > 0:06:31for the rest of his life.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33- You've described football as a drug. - Absolutely.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35- Could you live without it?- No.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41It's what I do, it's what I've done since the age of six,
0:06:41 > 0:06:43in one capacity or another.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49I think about it stupidly, obsessively.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54Tony's addictive personality is something the experts
0:06:54 > 0:06:56recognise all too often.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58Kitrina Douglas was a top golfer.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01She now studies retirement issues.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04It seems that how we play dictates how we cope.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09When we analyse the types of life stories that athletes tell,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12and this is across sports, there are three different types of story.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14There's the performance narrative,
0:07:14 > 0:07:18and that's the Bill Shankly type of quote, where sport isn't
0:07:18 > 0:07:21a matter of life and death, it's much more important than that.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24The discovery narrative is, winning is important
0:07:24 > 0:07:25but it's not the only thing.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28I want to do lots of other things with my life, have a family,
0:07:28 > 0:07:29play the guitar.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Then there's the relational narrative, where it's not so much
0:07:32 > 0:07:36about winning, but it's about who I'm playing with, the camaraderie,
0:07:36 > 0:07:40the relationships you make while you're doing sport.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44And that type of journey and all those types of story,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47make a difference when it comes to retirement
0:07:47 > 0:07:50to the type of stories that you tell about your retirement.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52I know it can be tricky to forge a new career.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55As well as developing business and charity interests,
0:07:55 > 0:07:58I've been commentating on cricket for a couple of years.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00He should have defended that and now he's gone and gifted a wicket.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02The perfect start for Sri Lanka.
0:08:05 > 0:08:06'I ventured into other sports as well.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10'But when I worked on live TV at this year's Masters in Augusta,
0:08:10 > 0:08:13'I found out how hard it can be.'
0:08:13 > 0:08:17You've won this tournament three times. Who do you fancy now?
0:08:17 > 0:08:20Erm, four times, actually! But...
0:08:20 > 0:08:22'But when it comes to commentators,
0:08:22 > 0:08:23'I reckon one former sportsman
0:08:23 > 0:08:25'is head and shoulders above all the rest.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30'I went to the Albert Hall to meet the legendary John McEnroe.'
0:08:41 > 0:08:44And that's it. McEnroe wins. Three sets to love.
0:08:48 > 0:08:54You can't be serious. You cannot be serious! That ball was on the line.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56Chalk flew up.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00Can I take you back 20 years to when you made that decision? When was that moment?
0:09:00 > 0:09:02I didn't actually make the decision to retire,
0:09:02 > 0:09:06so in a way, I never actually formally retired.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09I didn't want to cry in front of the cameras the way you did.
0:09:09 > 0:09:14In 1992, his marriage to Tatum O'Neal came to an end.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16We separated and subsequently divorced,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19so there really was no sort of decision to be made.
0:09:19 > 0:09:20It was sort of...
0:09:20 > 0:09:24I was a bit overwhelmed by this personal issue
0:09:24 > 0:09:27and trying to take care of myself and my kids.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29I have three kids with Tatum.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32And so, I just sort of stepped aside and took a step back
0:09:32 > 0:09:35and just never went back on the tour.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43In the '90s, you went into music. How was that?
0:09:43 > 0:09:46The greatest perk that I ever got as a tennis player was the fact
0:09:46 > 0:09:49that I got to have people like Carlos Santana trying to teach me
0:09:49 > 0:09:51how to play guitar, or Eddie Van Halen.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53These incredible guitar players.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56Ironically, when John remarried, it was to a musician.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00Patti Smith soon put an end to his musical ambitions.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03There was a time when our baby was about to be born
0:10:03 > 0:10:05and basically it was like,
0:10:05 > 0:10:08"If any of us is going to play music, it's me, not you.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10"Let's be clear about that."
0:10:10 > 0:10:11So that sort of ended that.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14But what it has done, funnily enough,
0:10:14 > 0:10:17it's actually made me appreciate my tennis more.
0:10:17 > 0:10:22Because the more I play guitar, I go, "Thank God I can play tennis"!
0:10:23 > 0:10:26You've said, "I'll never be a commentator, never play again."
0:10:26 > 0:10:28But never say never.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31I've done pretty much everything I said I absolutely wouldn't do.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34- HE LAUGHS - Why?
0:10:34 > 0:10:37Hopefully it's not just because it's the easiest thing.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41Left-handers are normally taught to throw the toss to their left.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Too close to the net.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47Then, when I got into doing some commentary work, for example,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50I think people were a bit taken aback, but hopefully
0:10:50 > 0:10:53pleasantly surprised that this guy knew what he was talking about
0:10:53 > 0:10:55and perhaps had a sense of humour.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58A lot of sports,
0:10:58 > 0:11:02they don't have a seniors' or champions' tour to go back to.
0:11:02 > 0:11:08The funny part is that I actually get rewarded for the behaviour
0:11:08 > 0:11:09that I was fined for.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11'Now they want to see that.'
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Call the score, right? See if you can get that right.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16You start with that, right? The rest of it, stay out of!
0:11:16 > 0:11:20'Maybe it's pathetic in a way, or sad, but it's also'
0:11:20 > 0:11:25sort of funny, ironic, that the very things that they were lambasting
0:11:25 > 0:11:29me for, going after me, are now the things that they want to see.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33It seemed more appealing to get back out there and see some friends,
0:11:33 > 0:11:36even some rivals, but in a different way.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39Is that what you love, the competitive edge now?
0:11:39 > 0:11:44- Or is it meeting friends and meeting...?- It's a combination.
0:11:44 > 0:11:45I've said this 100 times,
0:11:45 > 0:11:48but it beats the hell out of working for a living.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52- What about your art?- Art is a more, I'd say, serious thing.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56I'm sort of in between a collector and a dealer.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58I'll buy and sell a few things,
0:11:58 > 0:12:02maybe hopefully show that I know what I'm talking about.
0:12:02 > 0:12:03And do you?
0:12:03 > 0:12:07I'd like to think so, but it's very subjective obviously,
0:12:07 > 0:12:11it's not like sports where you go out and there's a winner and a loser.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15This is... You can win and seemingly lose at the same time.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18Welcoming back to Centre Court, John McEnroe.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:12:26 > 0:12:30I have a tennis academy, I spend a lot of time there.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32I want to get kids excited about the sport,
0:12:32 > 0:12:34get better athletes into the sport.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38That's my immediate goal. I'm also open to suggestion.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40THEY LAUGH
0:12:45 > 0:12:48The majority of batting is all in here.
0:12:48 > 0:12:49Batting is an attitude,
0:12:49 > 0:12:52and that's what we must take to the crease every time we go out there.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55'In cricket, we now help teenagers to prepare for retirement.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59'Even employing psychologists to help them
0:12:59 > 0:13:02'cope with the tough issues they will face when they stop playing.'
0:13:02 > 0:13:04Nice.
0:13:04 > 0:13:05We're working with under-17s here,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08and a key part of this programme is improving their self-awareness.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10So, even at this age, it seems a long way off,
0:13:10 > 0:13:14but it's keeping them grounded and they understand they have an identity
0:13:14 > 0:13:17outside their sport, so when it does arrive it's a process of transition
0:13:17 > 0:13:21rather than a one-off event, when you get this grieving process.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24Remember, batting is in the brain, not in the body.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26It's all about what you think.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30History is littered with plenty of examples of sportsmen who get stuck
0:13:30 > 0:13:33in that process and try and replace the buzz by either turning to alcohol
0:13:33 > 0:13:38or drugs, we've even seen extreme cases where people turn to suicide.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42It's largely because they don't understand that it is a stage
0:13:42 > 0:13:46and there's light at the end of the tunnel, and there's no-one there to counsel them through it.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55When I was a lad growing up in Sheffield,
0:13:55 > 0:13:58Herol 'Bomber' Graham was the one boxer we all wanted to see.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04He was probably the best British boxer never to win a world title.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07And he's hurt and is down for the first time.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09But retirement wasn't kind to Bomber.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14Herol Graham has turned on the most astonishing display
0:14:14 > 0:14:16of boxing tricks that you will ever see.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25When you were boxing, did you ever think what you would do
0:14:25 > 0:14:27when you retired?
0:14:27 > 0:14:31No. Boxers don't think that way, I don't think. You're in a bubble.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34You're just enclosed in this little bubble, and trapped in the bubble,
0:14:34 > 0:14:37and you didn't know what was going off outside.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39I thought boxing was my life.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42I thought I was going to die in boxing, literally.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45So when you finished, you had no plans, no goals,
0:14:45 > 0:14:47nothing to go in to?
0:14:47 > 0:14:49- No, nothing. - And what about financially?
0:14:49 > 0:14:51I had plenty of money.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54But it's like saying, I had plenty of friends to go with the money.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57So it's a case of lending money.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00- And that money never came back? - No, no, no.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02Did retirement scare you?
0:15:02 > 0:15:03I was terrified.
0:15:03 > 0:15:08There's a numbness, in the sense that, "What do I do, who am I?"
0:15:08 > 0:15:11It's like trying to find out who am I now, now I've finished boxing,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14what can this person do for himself?
0:15:14 > 0:15:16It's as if I couldn't do anything.
0:15:16 > 0:15:22And I just felt isolated in the home. You know, have a little tears.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25"What am I going to do now? I don't know what to do."
0:15:25 > 0:15:28And I didn't know what to do, at all. Really.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32I read in your book that you sat in your house, cried,
0:15:32 > 0:15:36turned to drink, brandy, and then you got a knife out.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40I just wanted to give in. I'd come to the finale.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44That's it, finished. I didn't want to go anywhere, then I cut my wrists.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48I thought it was deep, I just went right down into my wrist,
0:15:48 > 0:15:49my veins. I saw the blood spurt out
0:15:49 > 0:15:51and said, "Ah, I've done it, I've done it.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55"I can die, I can die." I was just crying and saying,
0:15:55 > 0:15:58"I'm sorry" to everybody. I was saying sorry to everybody.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02- Were you relieved at that moment that you did it?- Yes. Really.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07People say you're mad, but I was relieved in the sense that the pressure...
0:16:07 > 0:16:10It's as if I'd relieved a kettle, a pressure cooker,
0:16:10 > 0:16:13and all the steam was flowing out.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16And that's the way I felt, just relieved.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19Luckily for Bomber, his long-time girlfriend Karen
0:16:19 > 0:16:23called the police, effectively saving his life.
0:16:23 > 0:16:29If it wasn't for her, I think I would have killed myself a long time ago.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32She's taken me through this, hand-in-hand sort of thing.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36I mean, I've had to put something in, but it was mainly her.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38She backs off a bit now and says,
0:16:38 > 0:16:42"Come on, you are strong enough to do some of it on your own now.
0:16:42 > 0:16:43"You do some of the e-mails."
0:16:43 > 0:16:45"I can't do it, I can't do it!" "Do them."
0:16:45 > 0:16:47I want to do something for the future,
0:16:47 > 0:16:52for myself, for my children and for my fiancee,
0:16:52 > 0:16:55I've got to do something for them and make it good as well.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57Bomber has been to the bottom,
0:16:57 > 0:17:00but he's on his way back and he's learnt a lot about his sport.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03It's a lonely place.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07You go out on your own in the morning, early morning running,
0:17:07 > 0:17:10you're out on your own. You go to your fight,
0:17:10 > 0:17:12loads of people there applauding you, chanting,
0:17:12 > 0:17:14"Bomber! Bomber!"
0:17:14 > 0:17:18And once it's gone, you're on your own again.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22I felt horrible, shocking, to be on my own and I still do sometimes
0:17:22 > 0:17:25Bomber, Bomber, Bomber...!
0:17:28 > 0:17:32A lot of sports people have what we call an athletic identity.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34Their whole sense of self has been developed over
0:17:34 > 0:17:37a number of years of being a particular sportsperson,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40and being a winner, not just any sportsperson.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42It's a struggle, especially as an athlete.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46You've been accustomed to being on top, earning all the money you can,
0:17:46 > 0:17:47and all of a sudden,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50those opportunities and sports get away from you.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54It's a struggle to find out, what am I going to do with my life?
0:17:54 > 0:17:58You find it quite hard to put your hand up and go, "Do you know what?
0:17:58 > 0:18:01"In my life, I don't feel as though I'm winning any more.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04"I feel I'm drifting sideways, I feel a bit lost."
0:18:04 > 0:18:07And, you know, I think everyone goes through that.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10You can still have those feelings about, "What if I'd have done this,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13"what if I'd done that? Maybe I could have done a bit more."
0:18:13 > 0:18:16They're the worst feelings to have as a retired sportsperson.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20Matthew Hoggard is one guy I know
0:18:20 > 0:18:23who could benefit from a bit of friendly retirement advice.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30My old Ashes team-mate is nearing the end of a successful career,
0:18:30 > 0:18:33but he's notorious for living in the moment.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35I'm going to get you!
0:18:35 > 0:18:40Hoggy dotes on his little lad, Ernie, and wife Sarah.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43I don't think at the moment he can see beyond playing,
0:18:43 > 0:18:46because that's all he's ever known.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49And I don't think he likes to think of it coming to an end
0:18:49 > 0:18:52and I don't think he particularly wants it
0:18:52 > 0:18:55to come to an end in the near future.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58So I think he is hiding away from it a little bit.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00HE LAUGHS
0:19:00 > 0:19:03Do you feel it's down to you to keep pushing him
0:19:03 > 0:19:07to make a decision, to plan for the future, to go on a course?
0:19:07 > 0:19:10Yes, and I have done for the last... goodness knows how many years.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13I think about that, he doesn't.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17At the end of the day, he's qualified to do nothing.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20I mean, none of you guys are really. I wish he'd have been a vet.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23That's what he wanted to do!
0:19:23 > 0:19:25When we were fighting for the Ashes back in 2005,
0:19:25 > 0:19:27I was so glad he chose cricket.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39And that's it. Those are the winning runs for England.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42Hoggard and Giles,
0:19:42 > 0:19:47the last of the heroes for England in one of the more tense situations.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00You do understand that it will come to an end eventually?
0:20:00 > 0:20:02Eventually, yeah.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05And it's about time I started planning.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08Because I haven't done much so far.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13You say you haven't done much. Have you done anything?
0:20:13 > 0:20:17I've done a course. I've got a coach's certificate, Level II.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20Obviously there's another two levels of coaching to do
0:20:20 > 0:20:23to put that string in my bow.
0:20:23 > 0:20:28- But that's about it. It's getting closer to D-Day.- Does it worry you?
0:20:28 > 0:20:31Yeah. Course it does.
0:20:31 > 0:20:37To what extent? What is the worry about your next life?
0:20:37 > 0:20:41I stop working. Everybody needs to work, Michael.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43Money makes the world go round.
0:20:43 > 0:20:48You got to put food on the table, you've got to earn a crust.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52I'm just hoping somebody's going to wave a magic wand
0:20:52 > 0:20:55- and it's going to get sorted. - But it's not.- You're right.
0:20:55 > 0:21:00Maybe this chat here, Mike, maybe you coming down and talking to me
0:21:00 > 0:21:03is going to actually put the fear of God up me
0:21:03 > 0:21:06and get me to pull my finger out and do something.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10See, that is the word that I hear a lot, the fear.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12It's a fear of the unknown.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16I mean, you fall on your feet after cricket.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21You've gone into radio, you've got fingers in lots of pies
0:21:21 > 0:21:24and know exactly what you're doing and you're excited about doing it.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27For me, there's a big, blank space, there's a void,
0:21:27 > 0:21:30and I ain't got a clue what I'm going to be doing.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33I could be stacking shelves at Morrison's if I don't
0:21:33 > 0:21:38pull my finger out and get some plans and some foundations laid down.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42When you have a spare moment, you don't think, "What am I going to be doing in 10 years?"
0:21:42 > 0:21:46I'm more likely to be thinking, "What would I do if I won the lottery?"
0:21:46 > 0:21:49- But you're not going to do that. - Or what I'm going to have for tea.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53- You're pretty simple, aren't you? - Yes. I'm very simple.
0:21:53 > 0:21:54Monkey see, monkey do, Michael.
0:21:54 > 0:22:00It's, erm... Needs must and sometime I'm going to have to grow up.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07'Knowing Matthew, he will turn it around
0:22:07 > 0:22:12'and he's a lot smarter than he gives himself credit for.
0:22:12 > 0:22:13'He'll do something.'
0:22:13 > 0:22:16Test cricketers can be away from home for months on end,
0:22:16 > 0:22:20so retirement at least enables you to spend more time with the family.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23Got any tricks?
0:22:23 > 0:22:25For women, the situation's a bit more complicated.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28Some do combine children and sport successfully,
0:22:28 > 0:22:32but for many, it becomes a choice between the two.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43Gail Emms helped put badminton on the sporting map in this country,
0:22:43 > 0:22:47but she won't be competing at London 2012.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51With partner Nathan Robertson, she won silver at the Olympics in 2004.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57COMMENTATOR: Incredible shot from Gail Emms.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01She's got different priorities now, two-year-old Harry and partner Ed.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06Training for the Olympics is easier than being a mum.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09It's very, very hard, but it is absolutely brilliant.
0:23:09 > 0:23:10It's so cool, you know?
0:23:10 > 0:23:14It's hard in a different way. I can't control...
0:23:14 > 0:23:17I used to control everything with training and whatever I did,
0:23:17 > 0:23:20and now I've got this little person to look after.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23Sorry, have I got to go back to you? Is the attention on you, now?
0:23:23 > 0:23:26Don't know where he gets that from!
0:23:26 > 0:23:28It's all about him.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30- Oh, that's amazing.- What about you?
0:23:30 > 0:23:33What change have you noticed in Gail
0:23:33 > 0:23:36since she's stopped playing badminton?
0:23:36 > 0:23:40The first year was something of a nightmare.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44I noticed a change where she was just really worried about
0:23:44 > 0:23:48what she was going to do next, but I think as soon as Harry came along,
0:23:48 > 0:23:52and he's taken up both of our time, that's gone away completely.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55One of us will be at home with Harry while the other one's at work
0:23:55 > 0:23:57and then we do swap over.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00It's a safety bubble, sport. You know it's not real,
0:24:00 > 0:24:04and you know you should go and do other things that normal people do...
0:24:04 > 0:24:10- I'm so sorry! There we go. What's that?- Ba-na!- Banana, that's it.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15You know it's a normal life and you've got to get out there.
0:24:15 > 0:24:20And then you've gone from being the best to nothing. You're not anyone.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24You were a name in a sport, you were someone,
0:24:24 > 0:24:27and now you're not, and you've got to start again,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30and I think that was just really scary.
0:24:30 > 0:24:35- Two butterflies. One...- Two. - And one gorilla. There it is.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39Gail's last competitive match was at the Beijing Olympics
0:24:39 > 0:24:43when she and Nathan narrowly missed out on a medal.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47COMMENTATOR: It's wide. The dream of Olympic gold is over.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51Gail, you said before this was going to be your last Games,
0:24:51 > 0:24:53your last international. Doesn't change your decision?
0:24:56 > 0:24:57Sorry!
0:24:57 > 0:25:01There were tears in Beijing when you finally said, "That's it."
0:25:01 > 0:25:04As soon as you come off court and you've just lost,
0:25:04 > 0:25:06and you realise it was the last time you were going to compete
0:25:06 > 0:25:10for Great Britain, they stick a camera in your face and a microphone.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13It was Matt Pinsent and he just went, "How are you feeling right now,
0:25:13 > 0:25:17"cos that's it, it's all over." You just get asked that. We just lost.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19NATHAN ROBERTSON: She is amazing.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22You see on court, how aggressive, feisty, attacking she is,
0:25:22 > 0:25:25and it's been an amazing partnership.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30He's got his new partner Jenny with him.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33Younger model, I know. It's really hard.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37Nathan and I spent so many years together and everything.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40It was really strange the first time I watched them play together.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44It was like watching an ex-boyfriend with his new girlfriend.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46Is there any bitterness or any anger
0:25:46 > 0:25:48that you are watching your ex-partner in action?
0:25:48 > 0:25:50I just felt really emotional about it.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53I welled up a little bit cos I was like,
0:25:53 > 0:25:55"He doesn't need me any more. He's got someone else.
0:25:55 > 0:25:56"He's moved on."
0:25:56 > 0:26:01Do you ever get that feeling that you actually don't want them
0:26:01 > 0:26:02to be as good as you two were?
0:26:02 > 0:26:06Yes! Yeah, I'm totally open with it.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09I said to Nathan, if he goes to Olympics he's allowed to get silver
0:26:09 > 0:26:10but he's not allowed to get gold.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16- A woman has a decision to make that you have to stop to have kids.- Yeah.
0:26:16 > 0:26:17It's impossible to do both.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21I was trying to think of a woman badminton player
0:26:21 > 0:26:24around when I was playing who'd had children
0:26:24 > 0:26:25and still being able to compete... None.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31I've always wanted children, but when do you have it?
0:26:31 > 0:26:33Cos you really want to focus on your sporting career,
0:26:33 > 0:26:36cos you've only got a short shelf life really, so for me,
0:26:36 > 0:26:40I'm thinking, I'll be 31 after Beijing,
0:26:40 > 0:26:43if I carry on for London I'll be 35,
0:26:43 > 0:26:46and that's assuming you can get pregnant straight away.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49You just don't know. So you're gambling with life.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56- Did you make the right decision? - Yes, I did.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00I thought Brett Lee was fast!
0:27:02 > 0:27:04You can tell you've still got the competitive edge.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07You're trying to hit me.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09Yes, I got one back.
0:27:10 > 0:27:11Damn it!
0:27:13 > 0:27:14There you go. Didn't get that one.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17Still got it.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21Olympic medals don't pay the bills.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24Gail now juggles motherhood with a blossoming media career,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27but there was a time when even our top footballers had to find
0:27:27 > 0:27:30a job once they hung up their boots.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33Southampton striker Mick Channon changed sports
0:27:33 > 0:27:36and started training race horses, with great success.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40England World Cup winner Ray Wilson became an undertaker.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43Coventry's Micky Ginn got a job as a postman.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46Ian Callaghan played more games for Liverpool than anyone,
0:27:46 > 0:27:48ended up running a pub.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51And I used to drink in a local run by Billy Whitehurst,
0:27:51 > 0:27:54the ex-Hull City and Sheffield United striker.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56But we now live in an era
0:27:56 > 0:27:59where many sports people are well looked after financially
0:27:59 > 0:28:02and don't have to look for other alternatives.
0:28:02 > 0:28:03Despite this,
0:28:03 > 0:28:05I found somebody who wanted to do something different
0:28:05 > 0:28:08and get away from the sport he loved playing.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15Every morning at 6am, an England World Cup winner heads to work
0:28:15 > 0:28:17in London's new financial quarter.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26COMMENTATOR: England have an overlap and they must score!
0:28:26 > 0:28:29Josh Lewsey with a try.
0:28:33 > 0:28:37The trading floor is the closest thing to professional sport
0:28:37 > 0:28:39in the business world.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42Are you just tapping out at 20% volume?
0:28:42 > 0:28:45As a sportsman, you get most satisfaction
0:28:45 > 0:28:49when you've had a good game and that's probably the same here.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53I just couldn't get my head round it.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Josh Lewsey, equity sales trader.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00Have you always been into this kind of stuff when you were playing?
0:29:00 > 0:29:02I traded for five, six years while I was playing.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05Right before a game you don't want to be on your feet so what do you do?
0:29:05 > 0:29:08You can twiddle around your thumbs and bits and pieces
0:29:08 > 0:29:11and some of the lads played PlayStation. I couldn't stand that.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15We've backed a better year for equities next year
0:29:15 > 0:29:18and as our stocks target...
0:29:18 > 0:29:21If these guys aren't doing their job, it makes an idiot of you
0:29:21 > 0:29:24and vice versa, so there's that natural competition, dynamism,
0:29:24 > 0:29:26but actually, we are all part of the same team.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31I always knew rugby was going to come to an end.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34Sport is the best job in the world when things are going well,
0:29:34 > 0:29:36but it's a pretty self-indulgent world,
0:29:36 > 0:29:39and I think it's really healthy, as much as anything else,
0:29:39 > 0:29:43to have some interests outside what you do.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45For me, I didn't want to be, in 20 years' time,
0:29:45 > 0:29:49still talking about what I'd done as a player.
0:29:49 > 0:29:51Life moves on and rightly so.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54As a sportsman, if you've done something good,
0:29:54 > 0:29:57you get huge praise for that.
0:29:57 > 0:30:01Everyone knows about it. It's in the papers. Your family knows about it.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03Tens of thousands of people watch you do it.
0:30:03 > 0:30:07You do something good here, nobody cares.
0:30:07 > 0:30:09The guys who deal with you on a day-to-day basis
0:30:09 > 0:30:12just judge you as just "Josh",
0:30:12 > 0:30:13not Josh Lewsey, the ex-England rugby player,
0:30:13 > 0:30:16ex-minor sports celebrity, as some might like to call it!
0:30:16 > 0:30:18CHEERING
0:30:21 > 0:30:24When you've been quite spoiled by that adulation,
0:30:24 > 0:30:27and that fame, that sort of attention,
0:30:27 > 0:30:31to then step away entirely is quite alien,
0:30:31 > 0:30:33quite difficult.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36Do you ever get the buzz of what you had as a player,
0:30:36 > 0:30:38that feeling of winning a match?
0:30:38 > 0:30:40You can earn all the money in the world,
0:30:40 > 0:30:43but you can never replicate winning something for your country,
0:30:43 > 0:30:45or walking out on the pitch for England.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48But then again, it is a bit of a false world.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51If you need that drug, where else do you get it?
0:30:51 > 0:30:55Do you get it from alcohol, drugs or pulling girls?
0:30:55 > 0:30:57That fix - the adrenalin fix, really -
0:30:57 > 0:31:00how do you get that elsewhere?
0:31:00 > 0:31:04I think that's why that transition period is very, very hard.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08Keep it at 20% of the volume. Thanks. Bye.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11'Not everyone can make a clean break like Josh has done.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14'Sport is full of comeback stories.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16'This year, we were all amazed
0:31:16 > 0:31:18'when Paul Scholes returned to Manchester United,
0:31:18 > 0:31:21'just months after retiring.
0:31:21 > 0:31:25'But there's one revival story that tops the lot.
0:31:25 > 0:31:31'I flew to Houston, Texas, to meet the king of the comeback.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43'George Foreman has always been someone that's intrigued me.
0:31:43 > 0:31:47'He won his title back 20 years after he first lost it.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53'At the age of 19, he was an Olympic gold medallist.
0:31:53 > 0:31:57'He went on to become the heavyweight champion of the world.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04'He then lost to Muhammad Ali in the Rumble in the Jungle.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07'He only lost one more fight, to Jimmy Young,
0:32:07 > 0:32:10'but something happened in that dressing room
0:32:10 > 0:32:12'that caused him to retire.'
0:32:12 > 0:32:16- How you doing?- You all right?- I'm going to live the good life now?
0:32:16 > 0:32:18HE LAUGHS
0:32:18 > 0:32:21- You've lived it already, haven't you?- Trying to.
0:32:21 > 0:32:23- Have a seat.- OK.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26What happened that night you lost to Jimmy Young, in the dressing room?
0:32:26 > 0:32:28You say that God arrived?
0:32:28 > 0:32:31I had a lot of hate in my heart.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33I was going to be the number one contender again,
0:32:33 > 0:32:35and get my title back.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37That was my whole focus.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39Then when I lost to Jimmy Young,
0:32:39 > 0:32:42to meet up with religion like that, it just blew me away.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44I didn't know what to think.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47I had to go on the street corners and preach,
0:32:47 > 0:32:50and I'd cut all my hair off. My beloved moustache was gone.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52And I'd gained all this weight.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54People would actually pass me down the street,
0:32:54 > 0:32:56they'd hear me preaching, wouldn't stop.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59I stopped and said, "You know what? I'm George Foreman.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02"Yes, I fought Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier.
0:33:02 > 0:33:07"But I'm here preaching for Jesus Christ". And they'd stop.
0:33:07 > 0:33:11So you went away from boxing for ten years, and then you came back?
0:33:11 > 0:33:13I'd put all of my effort into the George Foreman Youth Centre.
0:33:13 > 0:33:16I'd started helping kids go to college.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18I'd run out of money. I just couldn't let this place close.
0:33:18 > 0:33:23I had to find a way to keep the George Foreman Centre going,
0:33:23 > 0:33:24and I had to go to work.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27And I had one profession. It was boxing.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30How much harder was it second time around?
0:33:30 > 0:33:32The second time around, in boxing, is rougher,
0:33:32 > 0:33:34because you have to work harder.
0:33:34 > 0:33:38I was 315 lbs, so not only did I have to work out
0:33:38 > 0:33:39to get in shape,
0:33:39 > 0:33:42I had to lose all of this weight.
0:33:42 > 0:33:46No-one took me serious. Everyone said, "He's out for the big bucks."
0:33:46 > 0:33:49These young guys would come out and challenge me.
0:33:49 > 0:33:51One knockout after another. It was pretty easy.
0:33:55 > 0:33:57Next thing you know, I was back in the contention-ship,
0:33:57 > 0:33:58and fighting for the title.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01What a shot! Oh, my goodness!
0:34:04 > 0:34:07COMMENTATOR: George!
0:34:07 > 0:34:09Oh...
0:34:09 > 0:34:11my!
0:34:13 > 0:34:17Boxing seems to be the one sport where boxers retire
0:34:17 > 0:34:18and then come back.
0:34:18 > 0:34:20Bruno, Bugner, yourself.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23Why is that? Don't you get enough of it when you're in your...?
0:34:23 > 0:34:29I think the easiest thing about boxing is getting into the sport.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32The hardest part is to walk away, leave it alone.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36We all have to be crazy to box in the first place.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39The sad thing about it - that craziness lingers on.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41We don't know when to quit.
0:34:41 > 0:34:43You just have to have someone in your life
0:34:43 > 0:34:45to tell you enough is enough.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48Most boxers can't find that person.
0:34:48 > 0:34:50There's always that one purse, and that one punch
0:34:50 > 0:34:53you think you can land. Always.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55I think I'll be sitting there at 70 years old,
0:34:55 > 0:34:57thinking, "I got one more fight!"
0:34:57 > 0:34:59HE LAUGHS
0:34:59 > 0:35:02Who was the one person that said to you, "Come on.
0:35:02 > 0:35:03"Step aside now."
0:35:03 > 0:35:07My wife told me. I told you, I argued with my wife.
0:35:07 > 0:35:09I was going to get one good fight.
0:35:09 > 0:35:10I knew I could do it.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13I would even pay the number one contender to beat him.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16I said, "I can still do it. Don't you believe in me?"
0:35:16 > 0:35:19She said, "Isn't that the way you want to leave the sport?
0:35:19 > 0:35:21"Believing that you can still do it?"
0:35:21 > 0:35:23I said, "Yep." She said, "Leave it."
0:35:23 > 0:35:27- And I left it. - What about the George Foreman Grill?
0:35:27 > 0:35:30For the first time in my life, I learned to sell.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34I heard a lady say once, "If you learn to sell, you'll never starve."
0:35:34 > 0:35:37I would sell religion on the street corners.
0:35:37 > 0:35:39Finally a friend said to me,
0:35:39 > 0:35:40"Why don't you get your own product?"
0:35:40 > 0:35:41- Potato wedges?- Uh-huh.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43- Steak?- Sure.
0:35:43 > 0:35:44- Paninis?- Easy.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48I learned then that boxing was not about hit and run,
0:35:48 > 0:35:51it was about selling,
0:35:51 > 0:35:53so I boxed. Boom! It sure did hurt.
0:35:53 > 0:35:55And then I'd get a chance.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58"Yes! Try the George Foreman Grill," or whatever.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01So I spent the latter part of my boxing career
0:36:01 > 0:36:04in the ring, selling things.
0:36:04 > 0:36:05Boxing was least of it.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08What does retirement mean to George Foreman?
0:36:08 > 0:36:11There's no such thing as retirement with George Foreman.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14I think that's the worst thing that could happen
0:36:14 > 0:36:17to any professional man, especially an athlete,
0:36:17 > 0:36:20because you retire - the next thing is die.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23And I'm afraid of that, so I haven't retired.
0:36:23 > 0:36:24I don't even think the word.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26'George keeps busy.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28'He's got five sons, all called George,
0:36:28 > 0:36:30'and one of them's a promising heavyweight.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34'And at his own church, just along the road,
0:36:34 > 0:36:36'he continues to preach, three times a week.'
0:36:39 > 0:36:42ALL: One, two, three, squeeze.
0:36:42 > 0:36:43One, two, three, squeeze.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45One, two, three, squeeze.
0:36:45 > 0:36:49'Matt Hampson didn't choose retirement, it chose him.'
0:36:49 > 0:36:51One, two, three, squeeze.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54'While training for England's Under-21 rugby team,
0:36:54 > 0:36:57'he suffered a horrific accident.
0:36:57 > 0:37:01'A collapsed scrum left him paralysed from the neck down.'
0:37:09 > 0:37:14My darkest times was probably in hospital.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18There was a lot of emotion going through my mind.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20A lot of things...
0:37:20 > 0:37:22"What do I do with my life now?
0:37:22 > 0:37:26"What can I do?"
0:37:26 > 0:37:29From one minute being a professional sportsman,
0:37:29 > 0:37:32and being fit and healthy,
0:37:32 > 0:37:37and being able to do what I want to do,
0:37:37 > 0:37:39to lying in intensive care,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42not being able to even speak,
0:37:42 > 0:37:45is a pretty tough pill to swallow, really.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48You know, "Why me?"
0:37:48 > 0:37:50The scenario of, "Why me? Why me?"
0:37:50 > 0:37:53And coming out of that, and seeing other people in the same situation,
0:37:53 > 0:37:56and, actually, "Why not me?"
0:37:56 > 0:38:01- This is my bedroom.- I see you've cleaned it up for us.
0:38:01 > 0:38:04That's it, yeah. I had a bit of a tidy-up.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07How long does it take you to get up and running in the morning?
0:38:07 > 0:38:09It's approximately four hours.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11If you notice the rail through there,
0:38:11 > 0:38:14that's my bed hoist.
0:38:14 > 0:38:17I like to have a shower every morning.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20I just think it makes you feel human, you know.
0:38:20 > 0:38:22- Is that a telly?- Yeah.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26A TV in every room. That's it.
0:38:26 > 0:38:30- It's like Cribbs, isn't it? - That's it.
0:38:30 > 0:38:34Let's talk about your book.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36The front cover's there on the wall.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39How hard was it to do that book?
0:38:39 > 0:38:42It was really tough.
0:38:42 > 0:38:44It was a real emotional drain on me.
0:38:44 > 0:38:49But I actually think it was a real cathartic process
0:38:49 > 0:38:52that I went through whilst doing it.
0:38:52 > 0:38:54It was actually really good for me.
0:38:54 > 0:38:59- It was almost like a form of counselling.- Really?- Yes.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01CHEERING
0:39:05 > 0:39:09'After his injury, a charitable foundation was set up to help him.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12'Now Matt's using it to help others.'
0:39:12 > 0:39:15It's kind of taken the emphasis off myself,
0:39:15 > 0:39:18and moved on to other people.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21I get an immense sense
0:39:21 > 0:39:24of wellbeing
0:39:24 > 0:39:27by helping other people in the same situation.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32ALL: Set! MATT: Touch. Pause.
0:39:32 > 0:39:33Engage!
0:39:33 > 0:39:35ALL: One, two, three, squeeze!
0:39:35 > 0:39:37One, two, three, squeeze!
0:39:37 > 0:39:39MATT: Whoa!
0:39:39 > 0:39:42It fascinates me that you coach the scrum.
0:39:42 > 0:39:44How do you do that?
0:39:44 > 0:39:48It's strange, but it's still my favourite part of the game.
0:39:48 > 0:39:50It is a strange old thing,
0:39:50 > 0:39:53that confrontation that I love about the scrum,
0:39:53 > 0:39:59and, for me, it's the most important part of the game,
0:39:59 > 0:40:00still now.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03What I wanted you to do there on the front row
0:40:03 > 0:40:07is to get on your toes, and fire in snappy, straightaway,
0:40:07 > 0:40:09rather than rock back, and then going in.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11'I love doing it,
0:40:11 > 0:40:15'and I think it's the next-best thing to playing the sport.'
0:40:15 > 0:40:16You guys are talented lads,
0:40:16 > 0:40:19and I hope it goes well the rest of the season.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24I was very proud of Matt before.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27Obviously, a father would be. His son playing for England.
0:40:27 > 0:40:28But I'm more proud of him now.
0:40:28 > 0:40:30He's so inspirational.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32He never moans about anything.
0:40:32 > 0:40:35He's never down. His spirits are always high.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38An inspirational character for other people.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42So, hopefully, they'll surprise a few people.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46- When is it - on Saturday? - Yeah, Saturday.
0:40:46 > 0:40:51How, over the years, have you found this incredibly positive mentality?
0:40:51 > 0:40:53How have you been able to do that?
0:40:53 > 0:40:58You come to realise that there's a lot more to life
0:40:58 > 0:41:00than just being a professional sportsman,
0:41:00 > 0:41:02or a rugby player.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04I'm in a wheelchair,
0:41:04 > 0:41:05I'm on a ventilator.
0:41:05 > 0:41:07I've got a pipe hanging from my neck,
0:41:07 > 0:41:10but I'm living a good and very fulfilled life.
0:41:10 > 0:41:14There is a life after a catastrophic injury,
0:41:14 > 0:41:16like mine.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28'Sometimes, it's sport itself which gives you a second chance.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31'One moment of brilliance allows you to play on,
0:41:31 > 0:41:34'further than you probably thought you could have done.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36'Darren Clarke's a man born again.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39'Last summer, he won the Open Championship,
0:41:39 > 0:41:42'when even he didn't rate his chances.'
0:41:42 > 0:41:44CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:41:44 > 0:41:48'At 42, it was his first major.
0:41:48 > 0:41:50'He'd been a top golfer, with 22 tournament wins,
0:41:50 > 0:41:54'but he'll be the first to admit that, until that amazing week,
0:41:54 > 0:41:57'he felt his playing days were coming to an end.'
0:41:57 > 0:41:59It was my pinnacle.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01It's the biggest, best and oldest tournament in the world.
0:42:01 > 0:42:06Fortunate enough to win it, to get my name on the trophy.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08What's left for me? I don't know.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10'Now, as Open champion,
0:42:10 > 0:42:14'he no longer has to qualify for the majors, for years to come.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18'Any thoughts of retirement have been shelved.'
0:42:24 > 0:42:26There you go. If I don't hit the blue...
0:42:26 > 0:42:28Sit. Sit. Sit!
0:42:28 > 0:42:31The speed's a bit wrong.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34Ever the perfectionist.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36The public have this perception of you being a very laid-back,
0:42:36 > 0:42:38Guinness-drinking...
0:42:38 > 0:42:40- Second part's right! - HE LAUGHS
0:42:40 > 0:42:43They do, and I do enjoy it,
0:42:43 > 0:42:46when it's my switch-off time.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49But I work way, way too hard.
0:42:49 > 0:42:51I go down to Portrush, when I'm at home.
0:42:51 > 0:42:53I'll spend nine/ten hours down there.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55I just can't leave it alone.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57It's like a drug to me, and I'm obsessed.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59And I can't leave it alone, just yet.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02ANNOUNCER: On the tee, from Northern Ireland, Darren Clarke!
0:43:02 > 0:43:04APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:43:04 > 0:43:06If you'd have missed the cut at the Open, what would happen to you?
0:43:06 > 0:43:08I'd have been on ESPN.
0:43:08 > 0:43:11- Commentating on the Saturday and Sunday?- Yeah.
0:43:11 > 0:43:15I kept apologising to them, "Sorry, I've played too well,
0:43:15 > 0:43:17"so I won't be able to do the commentary!"
0:43:17 > 0:43:18- HE LAUGHS - Is that right?- Yeah.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21Darren, over this way. Here we go.
0:43:21 > 0:43:26I just think, "You've been a decent player for quite some time.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30"This is the tournament that you want more than anything.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33"You've been through a bit of thick and thin. You can have this one."
0:43:33 > 0:43:38'Darren tragically lost his wife, Heather, to breast cancer in 2006,
0:43:38 > 0:43:42'and it had a massive impact on his game.'
0:43:42 > 0:43:46In terms of my career, I had five years where I wasn't competitive.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49You know, the game has given me five years back again,
0:43:49 > 0:43:51by winning the Open.
0:43:51 > 0:43:53It would probably be very foolish of me
0:43:53 > 0:43:55if I didn't try and make the most of it.
0:43:55 > 0:43:56Have you ever got to that stage
0:43:56 > 0:43:58where you've been in your hotel room, or at home,
0:43:58 > 0:44:00and gone, "Right, that's it"?
0:44:00 > 0:44:02- Oh, yeah!- How many times?
0:44:02 > 0:44:05Obviously, when Heather, my wife, passed away.
0:44:05 > 0:44:09That was one of them, trying to keep everything together.
0:44:09 > 0:44:11Just a few other occasions, when the game had just really got to me,
0:44:11 > 0:44:13where I'd been trying and trying and trying,
0:44:13 > 0:44:15and nothing was happening.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17Anything that was, was all going the wrong way.
0:44:17 > 0:44:21Would you reckon you could
0:44:21 > 0:44:23have just given up golf, and not played?
0:44:23 > 0:44:25No, I couldn't. Not yet.
0:44:25 > 0:44:28- Is it getting close?- No.
0:44:28 > 0:44:30No, no.
0:44:30 > 0:44:32Not now!
0:44:32 > 0:44:34HE LAUGHS
0:44:34 > 0:44:37You'll play forever now. Four good days in a sport, and there you are.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39- Play forever.- I know.
0:44:39 > 0:44:41It's a good game, golf, isn't it?
0:44:41 > 0:44:43It is! It is.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48It's very easy to forget
0:44:48 > 0:44:51how lucky we are to be doing what we do.
0:44:51 > 0:44:53That's the whole thing. You get down on yourself,
0:44:53 > 0:44:56but travelling round the world,
0:44:56 > 0:44:58playing on some of the best golf courses in the world...
0:44:58 > 0:45:00Watch this, watch this.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03Such a good cueing action.
0:45:03 > 0:45:05- Look at that! Do you see that!- Nice shot.
0:45:05 > 0:45:08I just didn't get enough top right on it to get onto that.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11Unbelievable!
0:45:11 > 0:45:15Can you understand sports people who really struggle
0:45:15 > 0:45:18- and go through depression or...? - Yeah. Definitely.
0:45:18 > 0:45:20Definitely. Without a doubt!
0:45:20 > 0:45:23Because that thrill and the high that you get
0:45:23 > 0:45:24when you do it
0:45:24 > 0:45:29and you do it well, is irreplaceable. I think you miss it.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32- Potted a few in.- We have.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35'In terms of retirement, I think he's miles off.'
0:45:37 > 0:45:38Oh, yes!
0:45:38 > 0:45:41'A major win allows a golfer to play for so much longer
0:45:41 > 0:45:43'and it opens so many doors,
0:45:43 > 0:45:46'new opportunities and some quite large cheques.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49'And who'd want to give that up?'
0:45:52 > 0:45:53Miss out the green. Thank you, boy!
0:45:53 > 0:45:56- Very nicely played.- Always a pleasure.- One thing's for sure.
0:45:56 > 0:46:00- Neither of us could play snooker. - Pool.- You stick to golf.
0:46:00 > 0:46:03CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:46:03 > 0:46:06Would you say athletes struggle because you can
0:46:06 > 0:46:10never really get that kind of emotion again,
0:46:10 > 0:46:13away from the sporting days?
0:46:13 > 0:46:17It's interesting the language you use to define that.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21So if I were sort of analysing our talk, you said, "You can never."
0:46:21 > 0:46:25When we talk like that over a number of years,
0:46:25 > 0:46:27then we won't.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30But if we value other things along that journey
0:46:30 > 0:46:31and this is part of it,
0:46:31 > 0:46:34then other things have always been there all along.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37So, for example, one participant in my research said,
0:46:37 > 0:46:39"Yes, I've won lots of tournaments but they don't compare
0:46:39 > 0:46:42"to giving birth to my daughter."
0:46:43 > 0:46:46A big complicating factor in this is
0:46:46 > 0:46:48the man from the outside that's never been involved
0:46:48 > 0:46:51in high-level sport and looks at these people and thinks,
0:46:51 > 0:46:54"How can I feel sorry for this person who's basically had
0:46:54 > 0:46:57"15 years playing sport at the top of what they love doing
0:46:57 > 0:46:59"and earning money for doing it?"
0:46:59 > 0:47:01But it's like anything else.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04You lose something you have that was incredibly important to you,
0:47:04 > 0:47:05doesn't make it any less painful.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10I've really enjoyed meeting the different sports people
0:47:10 > 0:47:12and listening to all their stories.
0:47:12 > 0:47:16They've gone through the strains, the stresses, the mourning,
0:47:16 > 0:47:19but the majority of them have come through the other side.
0:47:19 > 0:47:21Sit back, sit back.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24It's helped me appreciate that no two stories are the same.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28We all cope differently and I think anyone facing retirement
0:47:28 > 0:47:30can relate to what they have to say.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32You've got to go through that grieving process,
0:47:32 > 0:47:35get it out of your system and then relish the challenge.
0:47:35 > 0:47:39It's probably not a bad idea to focus on the family,
0:47:39 > 0:47:41but also realise you need to keep busy.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44I think the earlier you start investing in your future,
0:47:44 > 0:47:45the better.
0:47:45 > 0:47:48If you want something you have to get it.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50Don't let other people get it for you.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53Get to know yourself, what you like doing, what you don't.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56One door closes, another one opens.
0:47:56 > 0:48:01Don't just let your sport use you, use the sport.
0:48:01 > 0:48:05You have a famous name, exploit that name.
0:48:05 > 0:48:07Learn to sell, learn to sell
0:48:07 > 0:48:10and you'll always have a bright future, but learn to sell.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13You've got another, what...
0:48:13 > 0:48:1830, 40, even 50 years of your life to live.
0:48:18 > 0:48:20Try and find a niche
0:48:20 > 0:48:24and try and find something else that you can do away from sport.
0:48:28 > 0:48:30As much as retirement is a tough decision,
0:48:30 > 0:48:34all sports people have to realise we've been in a fortunate position.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37We can't feel sorry for ourselves.
0:48:37 > 0:48:39We have to look for a new career.
0:48:39 > 0:48:42We have to get excited about doing something new.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44Most of us get to make that choice.
0:48:44 > 0:48:46People like Matthew Hampson don't.
0:48:46 > 0:48:48Retirement chooses them.
0:49:12 > 0:49:16Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd