For many years, we’ve seen plenty of links between different sports, whether it’s the fundamentals of the sport being similar, such as the similarity between baseball and cricket, or even players making the direct switch from one sport to another, such as former Welsh rugby union player Louis Rees-Zammit who swapped tries for touchdowns and joined the American NFL.
Football is different in this regard and doesn’t follow the pattern in relationships when it comes to its unusual bond with Horse Racing. An obvious overlap would be the fan’s involvement in the sports, both offering the potential for free bets. However, there is a lot more to this bond that doesn’t tend to get recognised.
Whether it is an after-retirement passion or even a side hobby whilst still playing the beautiful game, there are plenty of different overlaps between the two sports.
Post Retirement Passion
It’s well known that a footballer’s career isn’t the longest in the world, with most players retiring around the age of 35. While being a footballer at a top level is relatively well-paid, some players take up other jobs after retirement, with some remaining in the sport, taking on a managerial role, or even going into punditry. Either way, it is common to see footballers take up new jobs and roles after retirement due to the early retirement age.
While footballers like Pep Guardiola chose to take on a managerial role and the likes of Micah Richards venture into punditry, some footballers take a totally different career path, like Djibril Cisse becoming a DJ and some footballers even choosing to get into the horse racing industry.
Sir Alex Ferguson
One of the biggest names in horse racing who has fulfilled their passion post-retirement is the legendary football manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Ferguson is known for his incredibly successful spell at Manchester United, winning 13 Premier League titles. Despite having a relatively long career in the sport and retiring at the age of 71, his passion for horse racing was evident before his retirement, however, after retirement, he took this passion to another level, owning 32 racehorses.
Michael Owen
Michael Owen is a very well-known former Premier League footballer, mainly known for his time at Liverpool, Manchester United and his brief cameo in Spain for Real Madrid. Similar to Sir Alex, the Ballon d’Or winner always had a passion for horse racing, however, after retirement, he took his passion into a career, owning around 30 horses and even making an appearance as a jockey for a charity event.
Kevin Keegan
Kevin Keegan will go down as one of the greatest English footballers of all time, winning 2 Ballon d’Or awards back-to-back during his time at Hamburg SV. He is most known for his influential playing spells at Newcastle United and Liverpool, but what isn’t too commonly known is his love for horse racing. After retirement, Keegan took on many different business routes, including horse racing. His horse was trained by former England and Southampton teammate Mick Channon at his own stables in Hampshire.
Career Progression
One overlap between football and horse racing is the in-depth analysis and punditry that surrounds the sport, with ex-professionals and highly knowledgeable individuals commenting on the sport. This skill can be transferable between sports, and we have seen this occur a few times with sports stars commentating and talking on panels in different sports.
A very recent example of this is in 2025’s Cheltenham Festival, which included a guest appearance on the Live ITV Cheltenham broadcast from former Liverpool and England striker Peter Crouch. Crouch spoke about the love he has for the sport and teamed up with PaddyPower, highlighting the work he has gained in the sport.
We frequently see the crossover with football stars involving themselves in horse racing, however, in the case of legendary Sir Tony McCoy, he did quite the opposite and ventured into the football world. McCoy always had a love for the sport, supporting Arsenal, and after retirement featured on Soccer AM and even as a guest on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday. McCoy has even involved himself in the sport by passing on advice to young Northern Irish Liverpool fullback Connor Bradley, showing his keen eye for the sport.
Part-Time Hobby
Horse racing is widely popular among celebrities, and plenty of famous faces can be spotted at events throughout the year, which is no different for footballers. Whilst we’ve discussed a few former players who get involved in the sport, plenty of current professionals are seen attending races every year.
At Cheltenham Festival 2025, there were plenty of famous faces, including a few footballers, such as Liverpool’s Caoimhin Kelleher and Connor Bradley. In other years, we have seen players like England captain Harry Kane attending various events and infamous defender Sergio Ramos owning his own stables. It’s clear to see that there is a big crossover between current footballers and their love for horse racing becoming a part-time hobby.