Summary
- Danny Drinkwater retired at 33, and now works in a completely different profession.
- His struggles at Chelsea led him to hang up his boots early.
- Drinkwater retired with only 75 appearances in his final six years, having won the Premier League with Leicester in 2015/16.
Danny Drinkwater may have won the Premier League as recently as 2015/16, but now, still in his 30s, he has revealed that he has enjoyed his retirement on a construction site.
The Englishman secured a move to Chelsea following his title-winning success with the Foxes but struggled to make an impact at Stamford Bridge. After a series of frustrating seasons with the Blues, spent out on loan to various clubs, he opted to hang up his boots.
On 30 October 2023, Drinkwater announced his retirement from football, aged just 33. In the time since calling it quits, it seems he has been keeping busy, having taken up a new job.
Danny Drinkwater’s New Job
The former England midfielder – who played three times for the Three Lions – posted a photograph of himself on a construction site in the summer of 2024. Sadly, he was targeted by trolls but Drinkwater quickly squashed any concerns that he should be pitied.
Taking to social media, he first shared an image of himself on site. Per Goal, he was mocked for doing so, with one fan even saying: “You’ve hit rock bottom”.
Dismissing the hate, the 35-year-old revealed how much he enjoys the work, saying: “Some of these messages, behave.” He then added:
“I love being on the site grafting! It’s a choice.”
Danny Drinkwater’s Career
Drinkwater was born in Manchester and joined the Manchester United academy when he was just nine years old. While he never played for the senior team, he did make it to the bench in 2009 for a Premier League game but didn’t get on the pitch.
Before leaving Old Trafford in 2012, he was loaned out to a number of different teams. His short spells at Huddersfield Town, Cardiff City, Watford, and Barnsley ultimately led to a transfer away from Man United as he signed for Leicester City.
At this stage of his career, he’d probably put any Premier League title-winning aspirations to bed but he was a standout player in the Championship. He helped the Foxes win the division, scoring seven goals and earning a place in the PFA Team of the Year.
After just about surviving the club’s first season back in the top flight after a ten-year absence, Leicester would go on to do the unthinkable in 2015/16. Under Claudio Ranieri, forming a formidable duo with N’Golo Kante, Drinkwater would play 35 league games as his side stunned the sporting world and pipped Arsenal and Tottenham to the post in a stunning title race.
In September 2017, the midfielder would then join Chelsea for a reported £35m fee. Injury issues limited him to just 12 league outings in his debut season but that limited game-time was sadly a sign of things to come. In five years at the club, he would make just 23 appearances, heading on loan to Burnley in 2019 – which was then followed by further spells at Aston Villa, Kasimpasa and Reading.
Drinkwater then saw his contract with the Blues expire in 2022. He spent over a year without a club – and was briefly linked with a return to Leicester – before deciding to retire in 2023 at 33 years old.
Danny Drinkwater – Leicester and Chelsea Statistics | ||
|---|---|---|
Stats | Leicester | Chelsea |
Games | 218 | 23 |
Goals | 15 | 1 |
Assists | 22 | 0 |
Minutes | 17,532 | 1,181 |
Years at Club | 5 | 5 |
Drinkwater’s Decision to Retire Early
At the time of his retirement, he’d played just 75 times across the past six years. With that in mind, and having missed an entire campaign without a club, he admitted: “It’s probably been a long time coming.”
Speaking on the High Performance podcast (via Economic Times), he added: “I didn’t think it would bother me but saying it then it’s almost like scratching a nerve a bit. I think I’ve been ready for it, not stopping at my peak and it’s simmered down a bit, that’s helped the transition. I think I’ve been in limbo for too long, I’ve either been wanting to play but not getting the opportunities to play at a level where I felt valued. I just thought I’m restless here for no reason, I’m happy not playing football, but I’m happy playing football, so do I just shake hands with the sport?
“It’s all I’ve known, it’s been my life since I was six or seven, it was never going to be an easy thing. I think the way it’s died down has definitely helped. If I was playing week in, week out and had to stop through injury or age I think it would be trickier. I’ve had quite a few offers from Championship clubs, but I never felt the burn, it did nothing for me.”
It’s good to see that in retirement, Drinkwater has found something he enjoys doing away from the sport that once defined his identity. He’s not the first former footballer to change career paths either, with ex-Man United man Phil Mulryne becoming a priest after hanging up his boots.
