It's hard to imagine any of England's Euro 2024 heroes packing in their career to become a postman but that's just what former Manchester United and Three Lions star Neil Webb did.
Webb spent four illustrious seasons at Old Trafford in the mid 1980's where he won the the FA Cup, two League Cups, and the UEFA Super Cup and Cup Winners Cup. Yet following the decision to hang up his boots for good, he decided on a career path that not many players in the game have followed since.
Webb has the classy distinction of being a small group of ex-pros to play under both legendary managers, Sir Alex Ferguson and Brian Clough. He even made Bobby Robson's England's squad for the 1990 World Cup in Italy, however after retiring in 1997 the former midfielder took on the role as a postie earning a modest £220 per-week.
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His new job meant he was living a life that was a far cry from his days on the pitch, even declaring that you "won’t be seeing any footballers from the last ten years doing it.” Webb has a career any pro would be envious of though after picking up 26 caps for his country.
Webb was part of the squad that reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in 1990. It's likely the former United man would’ve been one of Sir Bobby Robson’s key men in the middle of the pitch for years to come, yet Webb's England career came to an abrupt halt after he snapped his Achilles while playing against Sweden.
In a cruel twist of fate, Webb's absence opened the door to a young pretender named Paul Gascoigne who never looked back and made the centre of England's team his own. Reminiscing on his misfortune paving the way for one of history's most famous players, Webb told The Times: “Fair play to Gazza. He always thanks me for getting injured.”
Speaking on his life after football, as a postman, Webb revealed that it took him "ages" to complete a round with people often stopping for a chat to hear stories from his storied playing days. “It took me ages to get round,” he said. “When people found out I was delivering their post, I was invited to come in for coffee and a natter." he added.
The 60-year-old, who lives in Reading, Berkshire, also has the prestige of being the 1,000th footballer to represent England, which came in a friendly match against West Germany in Dusseldorf in 1987. However, despite his standing in the game Webb revealed that he always knew he would have to work following his playing days.
Webb playing for Forest in 1986 (Image: Getty)
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Speaking to Mail Sport last year, Webb said he was enjoying life as a delivery driver but that he can't "relate" to the astronomical sums of money made by today's players. "I can't relate to the incredulous wages players get today," he said. "Even £100,000 a week - I can't relate to that."
Despite his life now being a million miles away from winning titles and the glitz of Italia '90, the former Forest man is happy with how his career turned out and always "knew" he would have to find a job after his playing days came to an end. "I've had numerous jobs over the last few years and at the moment I am a delivery driver," Webb said in May 2023.
"My generation earned good money and you could buy a nice house, a nice car and put your children through private education but it is a different world for today's players, I always knew I would have to work after I played."
Webb was signed by Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest for £250,000 in 1985 after impressing at Reading and Portsmouth. Sir Alex Ferguson then clinched his signature for Manchester United for £1.5million in 1989.
Webb returned to Nottingham Forest in 1992 and remained there until 1996. After a brief stint at Grimsby Town and Aldershot he retired in 1997 just shy of 500 career appearances and 120 goals.