10 Footballers Who Played Other Sports

10 Footballers Who Played Other Sports

Football. The world's game. The beautiful game. It's all a bit cringe and self-important, but it's true. Football is the sport that is most adored the world over.

That doesn't stop some of the stars of the game from having wandering eyes, though, with some very high-profile players dabbling in other sports before, throughout, and after their careers. Some even go as far as to express their disinterest in football compared to other sports, such as Christian Vieri, who apparently always preferred cricket instead.

As the most popular sport in the world, football enjoys a close relationship with a plethora of other top-level competitive sports, so here's a little rundown on some of our favorite examples of footballers who have taken up careers elsewhere.

Gareth Bale - Golf

Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order.

We'll get things going with the most well-known instance of elite-level footballers enjoying other sports, with the controversy that Gareth Bale kicked up during his time at Real Madrid.

The winger had become one of the most talented players in the world, breaking the transfer record in 2013 as he moved from Tottenham Hotspur to the Galacticos for £85.3 million, a record that would stand until Paul Pogba came about three years later.

Gareth Bale was spotted playing golf whilst his Real Madrid teammates lost to Spurs.

The gift that keeps on giving. pic.twitter.com/r4AIOnjSYD

— Ball Street (@BallStreet) July 31, 2019

Initially adored by the Madridistas, Bale stamped his authority as the best Welsh player ever, even over Ryan Giggs, with unbelievable performances despite being ravaged with injuries, capped off by his unbelievable overhead kick in the Champions League final against Liverpool in 2018, as Real went on to win 3-1 and take home the trophy.

Things quickly turned sour, though, as his attitude was perceived to be poor, and he tried forcing moves away, including to the Chinese Super League, but things reached boiling point when Wales qualified for Euro 2020, as the squad, fronted by Bale, danced with a flag reading 'Wales'. Golf. Madrid. In that order.'

WALES, GOLF, MADRID...in that order!! #WALHUN #TogetherStronger #Bale pic.twitter.com/GRJ5cps1Dp

— Red Welsh FC (@RedWelshFC) November 19, 2019

As you can imagine, his time in Spain didn't last much longer, and he never admitted any regret about the incident. Clearly he does just value golf more than he did the Galacticos.

Rafael Van Der Vaart - Darts

One that's been making the headlines recently is the legendary Dutchman's involvement with professional darts, a sport that he has been a vocal and avid fan of since before his football career.

The ex-Tottenham, Real Madrid and Ajax star is appreciated as one of the finest players of his nation in the last couple of decades, enjoying company with the likes of Robin van Persie, Wesley Schneider and Arjen Robben.

He's returned to the back pages lately, as he has made loud and clear his support of his compatriot Raymond Van Barneveld, who is suffering a sustained drop in form, by becoming his unofficial advisor and helper, in the hopes of returning Barney to his former glory.

He even dabbled in playing after his retirement, making his professional debut in the BDO Denmark Open in 2019, where he won the first round before being dumped out in the second after averaging just 54.

Rafael van der Vaart is trying his hand at professional darts. He's entered the BDO Denmark Masters and Open this summer. Incredible. [Mirror] pic.twitter.com/eR4TrJRQid

— MUNDIAL (@MundialMag) April 17, 2019

Van Der Vaart went on to accompany yet another darting Dutchman when he teamed up with Michael Van Gerwen in the 2019 Celebrity Darts Championship, making it all the way to the final.

Petr Čech - Ice Hockey

Regularly featuring in conversations about the Premier League's best ever goalkeepers, Petr Čech proved that the position was in his blood when he went on to become a goaltender for Guildford Phoenix after his retirement from football.

Enjoying an illustrious career primarily with Chelsea and Arsenal, the Czech international holds plenty of Premier League records in goalkeeping, including the most Golden Glove awards, the most clean sheets and the first goalkeeper in the league to go 1,000 minutes without conceding.

His talent translated well, as he won the Man of the Match award on his debut in his new sport in 2019, saving two penalty shots to win his side the game.

He follows in the footsteps of Dominik Hašek, a Czech goaltender in the NHL who was regarded as one of his position's best ever players.

Petr Čech will be returning to ice hockey to play as a temporary goalie cover for his former side Belfast Giants 🏒 pic.twitter.com/7AcydK7FN0

— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) February 5, 2024

Čech played alongside his role as the technical and performance advisor in Chelsea, before leaving the role in 2022 when Todd Boehly and BlueCo took over the club.

Jerzy Dudek - Motor Racing

Continuing the theme of goalkeepers moving onto other sports is Jerzy Dudek, the Polish international remembered best for his heroics on that famous night in Istanbul, playing a huge role in nets for Liverpool in the best Champions League Final comeback ever.

Jerzy Dudek’s save against Pirlo’s penalty in the 2005 Champions League final was CLUTCH ❌🧤pic.twitter.com/78U5GMqCRv https://t.co/28zwI6M1Um

— Pitchside Highlights (@PitchsidePlays) January 25, 2026

Unlike Čech, though, he didn't take his shot-stopping talents elsewhere, instead taking up an entirely different kind of sport.

Dudek took up motor racing after his official retirement in 2013, though he stopped actually playing in 2011 when at Real Madrid, as Poland offered him a farewell game two years after his club career came to an end.

One year later, in 2014, he completed a season in the Volkswagen Castrol Cup, a motor racing championship held across Eastern Europe in the summer months, though he wasn't quite able to put in performances as strong as his footballing ability.

Tim Wiese - WWE

There's a hat-trick of goalkeepers for you, and I wish I could say this will be the last one, but it isn't. There must be something about all that isolation at the back that makes you want to try literally anything else, I suppose.

Anyway, Tim Wiese was a German keeper who represented his nation a handful of times and enjoyed a productive spell at Werder Bremen, though his career was plagued with knee injuries.

He was infamous within the Bundesliga for his emotional outbursts, similar to Oliver Kahn, and was subject to an unfortunate time at Hoffenheim in the latter stage of his career, where he decided to start bodybuilding after being overlooked for a place in the line-up.

Deemed unsuitable for football, his new physique saw his contract terminated in 2014, where he then took up a place in WWE instead, appearing as a guest timekeeper at an event in Frankfurt.

12: Tim Wiese (WWE wrestler)
After playing in the Champions League and starting in goal for Germany, Tim Wiese quit football in 2014 to pursue a career as a WWE . pic.twitter.com/5GnND8cnAV

— Football Hub (@FootbalIhub) November 26, 2024

The German made his WWE debut in 2016 at a live event in Munich, but would go on to leave the sport a year later. At least he was able to take his temper out somewhere.

Sir Geoff Hurst - Cricket

Let's return to English football with the legendary Geoff Hurst, who was the only player to have scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final until Mbappe came along and stole the show in 2022 (at least England won, though, Hurst 1-0 Mbappe).

That famous final in 1966 has etched his name into English footballing history and almost makes you forget how good a striker he was throughout his career, primarily for West Ham.

Considering many forget how good he was, it makes sense that we forget that he almost didn't even take up football, as he was an especially talented fielder and wicket-keeper in his youth.

Hurst played a single County Championship game for Essex in 1962, the pinnacle of cricket in England, though he didn't score a run in either of his innings.

He promptly focused on football instead. Lucky for England fans, eh?

Grant Holt - Wrestling

Another Englishman, though not quite to the level of Hurst, is Grant Holt, a true football journeyman who is remembered most fondly for his four-year spell at Norwich from 2009-2013, winning the Player of the Year award for the club three years in a row.

After leaving his role as a player-coach at Barrow in the National League, he signed a professional contract with the World Wrestling Association, and enjoyed a short, yet successful, spell in the sport.

He won his first fight by being the last man standing in a 40-man Royal Rumble, before going on to win his next two matches, the last of which came in June 2019.

In total, he won three from three before returning to non-league football with Wroxham Town in 2020. He is now registered as a player for Dereham Town FC, who play in the Eastern Counties League Premier Division, level nine of the English Football Pyramid.

He may have won a Royal Rumble, but I can't help but wonder how he'd get on if he were to take on Premier League managers...

Curtis Woodhouse - Boxing

Playing as a midfielder, Woodhouse had stints in the EFL at Sheffield United, Hull City and others, even playing Premier League football with Birmingham City in 2002/03.

His professional football career was overshadowed by off-pitch incidents as he found himself caught up in fights, before retiring at the age of just 26, stating that he had fallen out of love with the game.

He opted to take up professional boxing, a decision that proved fruitful for Woodhouse, as he went 22-7 in professional fights and is the former British light-welterweight champion.

He returned to football on a semi-professional basis alongside his boxing career, playing for Mansfield when they were in the fifth tier and later being registered for Harrogate Town, among others.

Woodhouse has also taken up management at several points in his career, his last endeavour an unsuccessful one at Marske United, where he lasted just three months.

Bixente Lizarazu - Jiu-jitsu

The French full-back had a tremendous career at both club and international level, winning six Bundesliga titles and a Champions League with Bayern Munich, as well as the 1998 World Cup and 2000 Euros with France, playing a vital role in each trophy success.

Considered to be one of the best full-backs of his generation, Lizarazu was told as a teenager that his figure was too frail to become a professional, and he certainly proved the coaches that doubted him wrong.

Gaining such fitness through football and having a smaller figure seem have assisted him in his post-career endeavours, as he took up Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the years after he hung up his boots.

In 2009, three years after his retirement from football, Lizarazu became the European champion in his field after winning the Blue Belt Senior 1 Light Division, establishing himself as an avid martial artist and formidable opponent at his level.

Beyond those, the Basque country native is known to enjoy surfing, cycling and hydrofoiling, a recreational sport similar to surfing, except you appear to hover above waves.

Fin de journée. Retour pays des basques. Entrainement Vélo. . Bonne soirée 😉 pic.twitter.com/pmx3jo3jB6

— Bixente Lizarazu (@BixeLizarazu) June 11, 2017

Lev Yashin - Everything?

Right, I promise this is the last goalkeeper on this list, mostly because it's the last player on the list, but that's beside the point.

Lev Yashin is one of the most highly regarded keepers in the history of football, revolutionising the position and becoming the only goalkeeper to have won the Ballon d'Or, a record that still stands today.

He has been crowned by France Football and The International Federation of Football History & Statistics as the greatest goalkeeper of all time, so if you need any more proof as to how good the Soviet was, then there you have it.

The greatest goalkeeper of them all, Lev Yashin revolutionised his position and became a hero of the Soviet Union.

Here's his incredible story: https://t.co/BFKbygYlbs pic.twitter.com/wPSWh65jDY

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) October 22, 2018

Yashin also happened to be that one person we all grew up with that was good at literally everything, and let everyone know about it too (I'm not bitter at all...).

One-upping the aforementioned Petr Čech, Yashin was especially successful at ice hockey, winning a USSR cup in 1953 with Dynamo Moscow's team that competed in the sport.

Speaking about his endeavours in other sports, he is believed to have claimed to have been excellent at a plethora of them.

"I ran, did the high jump, shot put, discus, took fencing lessons, had a go at boxing, diving, wrestling, and skating, tried basketball, played ice hockey, water polo and football. I spent my winters on skis and skates. I'm not sure what I was best at," he once said.