Editing Football player (section)

==Career==
[[Jean-Pierre Papin]] has described football as a "universal language".<ref>{{cite news | last1 = jarassé | first1 = anne-cécile | last2 = yulia | first2 = k | others = Andrew Burgess (translator) | title = Jean-Pierre Papin: 'Football is a universal language' | url = http://www.cafebabel.co.uk/article/20539/jean-pierre-papin-football-is-a-universal-language.html | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130616012247/http://www.cafebabel.co.uk/article/20539/jean-pierre-papin-football-is-a-universal-language.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 16 June 2013 | work = [[cafébabel]] | date = 30 March 2007 }}</ref> Footballers across the world and at almost any level may regularly attract [[List of sports attendance figures|large crowds of spectators]], and players are the focal points of widespread social phenomena such as [[association football culture]].

Footballers usually begin as amateurs and the best players progress to become professional players. Normally they start at a youth team (any local team) and from there, based on skill and talent, scouts offer contracts. Once signed, some learn to play better football and a few advance to the senior or professional teams.

===Pay===
Pay in some top men's leagues is significantly higher than in other jobs. Players in the [[Premier League]] earn an average of $3 million per year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Premier League Salary - How Much Do Premier League Footballers Make? |url=https://www.888sport.com/blog/football/premier-league/premier-league-footballer-salary |access-date=2023-11-19 |website=888 Sport Online |language=en}}</ref> In the wealthiest clubs in European football leagues, men earn an average $7.19 million per year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=EPL footballer wages England 2022 |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/547090/average-annual-first-team-player-salary-in-football-clubs-english-premier-league-uk/ |access-date=2023-11-19 |website=Statista |language=en}}</ref> The best players of those clubs can earn up to $260 million per year.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Birnbaum |first=Justin |title=The World's Highest-Paid Soccer Players 2023 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirnbaum/2023/10/13/the-worlds-highest-paid-soccer-players-2023/ |access-date=2023-11-19 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref>

However, only a fraction of men's professional football players are paid at this level. Wages may be somewhat more moderate in other divisions and leagues. For example, the average annual salary for footballers in [[Major League Soccer]] (MLS) is $530,262 as of May 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rueter |first=Paul Tenorio, Tom Bogert and Jeff |title=MLS releases annual list of player salaries |url=https://theathletic.com/4522808/2023/05/16/mls-player-salary-averages/ |access-date=2023-11-19 |website=The Athletic |language=en}}</ref>

Average salaries in women's leagues are far lower. For example, players in the [[National Women's Soccer League]] (NWSL), which started in 2012, earn an average of $54,000 per year as of May 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-22 |title=How much players make on USWNT: Salaries for top NWSL players with World Cup prize money {{!}} Sporting News |url=https://www.sportingnews.com/us/soccer/news/uswnt-salaries-nwsl-world-cup-prize-money/wceqlodytbkmb8mw6ewudaxu |access-date=2023-11-19 |website=www.sportingnews.com |language=en-us}}</ref> For the first time in 2022, the NWSL guaranteed players a living wage. The minimum salary in 2023 is $36,400 to ensure players do not need second or third jobs to survive.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How Much Do NWSL Players Really Make? An In-Depth Look At NWSL Salaries |url=https://the18.com/en/soccer-news/nwsl-salaries-2022-how-much-womens-soccer-players-make |access-date=2023-11-19 |website=The18}}</ref>

===Post-retirement===
{{multiple image
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| image1            = José_Mourinho.jpg
| width1            = 300
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| alt1              = [[José Mourinho]] is a retired football player who post-retirement has worked as a [[manager (association football)|football manager]].
| caption1          = [[José Mourinho]] is a retired football player who post-retirement has worked as a [[manager (association football)|football manager]].
| image2            = Sweden - Denmark, 8 April 2015 (16899782868) (cropped).jpg
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| alt2              = [[Pia Sundhage]] is a retired football player who post-retirement has worked as the [[manager (association football)|football manager]] for the [[United States women's national soccer team|United States]] and [[Sweden women's national football team|Sweden]] national teams.
| caption2          = [[Pia Sundhage]] is a retired football player who post-retirement has worked as the [[manager (association football)|football manager]] for the [[United States women's national soccer team|United States]] and [[Sweden women's national football team|Sweden]] national teams.
}}

A minority of retired footballers continue working full-time in football, for instance as football managers. A 1979 study reported that former first-team ballplayers were over-represented as top-ranking executives in their companies and had greater income mobility than second-teamers and reserves.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Sack | first1 = Allen L. | last2 = Thiel | first2 = Robert | title = College football and social mobility: a case study of Notre Dame football players | journal = [[Sociology of Education (journal)|Sociology of Education]] | volume = 52 | issue = 1 | pages = 60–66 | jstor = 2112594 | date = January 1979 | doi=10.2307/2112594}}</ref> However, some experience chronic health issues, see below.