12 reasons why players don’t become professional footballers

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

1. Not taking responsibility

Not taking responsibility may be one of the worst things a player can do. You relinquish control over your career rather than taking control and ownership of it. Not accepting responsibility drains your confidence as you become only as good as your circumstances, and if those circumstances change, so do you. “If the facilities were better, I would make it”, “if the manager played a different style, I would be better” “If only I played in my favourite position” Statements like these are uttered from the mouth of a player who isn’t taking responsibility.

2. Lack of discipline

To make it as a professional footballer, you have to fight off thousands of other players worldwide, and discipline will play a part in you distinguishing yourself from the pack. If you are not consistent in your pursuit to make it, regardless of your talent, others will eventually overtake you on the way to the top. This is a significant difference between players in the lower leagues and players in the top leagues. The players at the top are more disciplined and methodical in their actions and behaviours and do everything they can to be the best version of themselves.

3. Lack of mental fortitude

In your career, you will have more downs than ups. Setback after setback, rejection after rejection, and you must have a strong mind to keep battling through the bad times. Not having this will be a sure-fire recipe for failure in your quest to make it as a professional footballer. Becoming (and staying) a professional footballer is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes a toll not only physically but mentally too, and in order for you to complete this marathon, you must be prepared to fight the mental anguish that this journey will inevitably put you through.

4. Bad attitude

Having a bad attitude makes it so that you have to be exceptional in your ability because players and coaches won’t want to work with you. You set yourself up on the back foot with your teammates as team chemistry is essential to your collective and individual success. Football is a team sport, and although talent is necessary, togetherness and team spirit are equally important. If you are that one player who could damage the harmony in the team, you create an unnecessary obstacle for yourself to make it (as if there weren’t enough obstacles already).

5. Closed-mindedness

Thinking you know it all and not being willing to try new things to improve will definitely hold you back from making it. If you cannot take advice or constructive criticism, it will be hard for you to improve as a player, which may lead you to be left behind by your peers willing to make the necessary adjustments to be better. I’ve seen many players be asked to change positions because a manager thinks they may suit it better. Some flourished, and others didn’t; nearly every time, it was because of their attitude towards the change. If they were open-minded, most of them made the positional transition seamlessly, but if they were closed-minded, they didn’t (some would intentionally play poorly in a position so they didn’t get asked to play there again).

6. Not studying the game

As humans, we learn best by watching and emulating. A baby is never really taught how to walk; they routinely see others walking and one day realise that this is a more efficient way of transport than crawling or bottom shuffling. The same is for a footballer. If you want to make it, you must watch yourself, watch your past games and areas you did well and where you could improve. Also, watching other players in your position will help you add to your game. Watching is required for you to reach your potential. Not only watching the best of the best in your position but also players in leagues similar or closer to yours as this is most likely closer to representing the level of football you are currently playing.

7. Being entitled

It may well be true that you deserve to make it more than another player, but this truth doesn’t mean that it will automatically happen. Sport (in its purest form) doesn’t discriminate, and this is its beauty. It rewards performance above all else. No one has a god-given right to succeed over anyone else. I have seen entitlement when a new manager comes in and replaces a starter with a player usually on the bench. The starter from the previous manager feels as if he “should” be playing because they have been all season, but this mentality is wrong. You get rewarded on your (daily) performance, not your reputation (or your perceived reputation).

8. Not having a strong Why

Why are you even trying to become a professional footballer? Your answer to this question will be your driving force to propel you towards the goal of becoming a footballer. But if your why isn’t strong enough for the journey, it will be like running a marathon dehydrated. There’s a reason that players from less developed countries and next to no resources make it to the big stage in the face of countless adversities that we don’t face in developed countries. It’s because their why is stronger than their obstacles.

9. Making unforced errors

If you watch tennis, you will be familiar with the term “unforced error”. It simply means how many times a player has lost points because of their own mistake. This judgement is not only for a tennis match but also for the life of a footballer. If you constantly come into work late, forget your boots or shinpads for match day or have a bad attitude, these are all unforced errors you make giving your competition points rather than earning points for themselves. There are so many things in football that you cannot control, but where you can control the controllables. 

10. Poor support system

Having a support system around you is so important for long term success in football. Especially nowadays with the highlighted importance on mental health. Having people around you who love you and want the best for you is a remedy in hard times and can centre you when life gets you off track. They can also counsel you and give you advice on tough career decisions. Research shows that having support around us contributes to our overall well-being as humans. I’ve seen many talented players fall by the wayside because of trouble at home and in their social lives. Make sure you have strong and positive connections with those closest to you.

11. Externally motivated

Those who make it to the top and stay there for a long time are internally motivated. This means that they are motivated by their desires and standards rather than societies and other factors around them. Being externally motivated isn’t bad, but it can only get you so far. Money, status, fame, and recognition as a motivator can work for a while but will always come crashing down eventually. These motivations cannot sustain you when the going gets tough. We are wired for comfort and our brain will seek it at every opportunity. If you have decided to become a pro footballer, you are going to be uncomfortable. Whether that’s in pre-season doing gruelling running or during the season faced with playing through injuries. Internal motivation will give you strong enough reasons to deal with being uncomfortable when external motivations will not.

12. Lack of talent

The last and least important but a reason nonetheless. If you don’t have the required talent, it doesn’t matter how much you try, you simply won’t be able to compete with others trying to make it. There is a baseline level of talent needed to make it, and most players pursuing a career have it. This is why in my opinion, it is the least important.