Meet Robbie Simpson - the ex-EFL star helping athletes find careers after sport

The modern footballer is depicted as someone who has an endless pile of opportunities and cash, allowing them to retire early and enjoy the finer things in life.

The reality, however, is much different. Whether it's to earn money or just find a role in society, there are hundreds of athletes searching for work. It can be a brutal experience for those who've spent their entire lives aiming to reach the pinnacle of their sport.

Former EFL star Robbie Simpson is trying to change that through his company LAPS (Life After Professional Sport), which aims to help current and former athletes take the next step in their career. He was inspired to establish LAPS after a turbulent season.

Chelmsford City player-manager Simpson represented Coventry, Huddersfield, Brentford, Oldham, Leyton Orient, Cambridge, Exeter and MK Dons in the EFL. At 27, the crowning moment of his career should've been the 2013-14 term - yet it proved to be a nightmare.

The free agent was hoping to secure a move to a Championship side in the summer of 2013 after leaving Oldham and had trials at Blackburn, Doncaster and Sheffield Wednesday - but nothing materialised. "Gary Bowyer [at Blackburn] said he doesn't think it's going to happen - and the season had started by that point," Simpson tells Mirror Football.

League One and League Two teams were interested in him earlier in the summer, yet they'd signed someone else. Simpson was left without a club and income. "I was living the same sort of lifestyle because I thought I was going to be at least on the same wage… I was always quite good with my money, but I was using my savings and seeing them go down quickly each month.

"It just hit me… that could've been the end of my professional football career - just at a point where I thought it was going to be on the up. I didn't know where to turn, where to look, what to do. I hadn't written a CV since I was 18 or 21... I didn't have a LinkedIn account or anything like that. I just didn't have any guidance on what to do."

Simpson contacted the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) to find a solution. He was advised to do his coaching badges - something many footballers aren't interested in.

"I enrolled on to do my coaching badges and I said: 'Is there anywhere I can get a job?' And they replied: 'Have you looked at our recruitment page on our website?' There were three coaching jobs on there.

"I enrolled on to my UEFA B [coaching badge] and asked the coach: 'How many people will do their UEFA B this year?' He said: 'About 2,000.' And he was boasting... I said: 'How many jobs do you think there will be available to become a coach in professional football this year?' And he said: 'You'll be lucky if it's 250.' That really hit home."

Simpson also added himself to the PFA's Transfer List, yet there were 300 other strikers on there. The forward was alarmed by the figure, acknowledging not everyone will find a route back into football. "I was worried for them… something more needed to be done for players who were with a club previously and now without."

Although Simpson's EFL career did resume later that season - signing for Leyton Orient - he was now aware of how quickly careers can end. He wanted to help his fellow professionals and, after a chance encounter with recruiter Rob Steed on LinkedIn, realised how in demand ex-athletes are.

Steed was recruiting for five companies at the time and three of those were looking for sportspeople due to the skills they spent years crafting. They're viewed as driven, determined, good communicators and leaders. Athletes can learn from failures, analyse their own performance and take direction.

Knowing this, Simpson and Steed established LAPS. The service, free for athletes, now has nearly 5,000 members aged between 16 and 65 - including those just starting their sporting careers, those thinking about life after sport and those who just want to know about new opportunities.

"I wanted to do this as a passion project. I wanted to give back and support rather than make money off athletes, which everybody wants to do - especially footballers. The amount of people that came in wanting my money for investments or what not was ridiculous. If these athletes are so desirable, then businesses should pay for that access."

And, having witnessed his own footballing career nearly come to a premature end, Simpson knows exactly what challenges face athletes. "One, that's easy to demonstrate, is the financial challenge. They've been paid very good money. Whether they've used that wisely or not, it varies from player to player.

"Quite often it's the case where they need to find work, sharpish, to pay the mortgage and feed the family. You might have some that have a year of money… but then after that year they really need to find a job.

"You do get the players that have earned really good money and are looking to be business owners or maybe buy franchises - we've got a franchise page where they can do that. We've got other sort of information about careers, property, investing and other stuff like that.

"The other challenge is finding something they want to do. All they've wanted to do from a very young age is become a sportsperson and they've been solely focused on that. To find another passion - another interest - that they could turn into a career, that is the next biggest challenge.

"Also, from the outside looking in, everyone looks at them as a footballer - as an Olympic athlete - and suddenly they're not that. There's a real sort of identity crisis, in that sense."

As well as offer support and guidance, LAPS also arrange workshops across the country. "I did a talk at a player care conference and a member of the Premier League came up to me and said: 'I loved what you just spoke about, I really want to know more about LAPS.' The Premier League got involved, wanting us to give talks to the U18s… getting them to start thinking about their futures beyond football."

Despite the Premier League getting involved, Simpson needs all sporting bodies to support LAPS if every athlete is to benefit from the service. "My end goal would be that any person that becomes a professional sportsperson or a sponsored athlete would automatically be sent a LAPS membership - either electronically or in the post - for free.

"To be able to do that, we need buy in from the governing bodies - the Professional Footballers' Association, for example, the Rugby Players' Association, the Professional Cricketers' Association, British Athletics, English Institute for Sport - all the different sporting associations [to get involved].

"If we can just get buy in from the governing bodies to facilitate the marketing and awareness and membership, then I think LAPS will really skyrocket."

The challenge in front of Simpson and his colleagues is mighty, yet not impossible. LAPS has grown significantly since it's inception and, with more support from the governing bodies, could help a lot more athletes. There is life after sport - but not everyone knows it.