Swansea City: 'Door always open' for Joe Allen after retirement
Alan Sheehan says the door will always be open for Joe Allen at Swansea City.
Allen is coming to terms with life outside football having announced his retirement last week at the age of 35.
The Wales great has said he has no idea what the future will hold after calling time on a senior playing career which began when he was aged 16 in 2007.
Allen briefly stepped up to help out with coaching at Swansea when he was injured earlier this spring.
Sheehan, who was appointed Swansea's head coach on a three-year deal last week, says it will be down to Allen to decide what comes next.
"I think Joe's in a position where right now, after such a long period of devoting your life to the game, I think probably he'll feel he just wants to step away and cool off for a bit," Sheehan said.
"[He will want to] chill out, spend time with the family and then be in a position to make that decision [on future plans].
"Whatever he wants to do, the door of Swansea City is always open for him."
Allen made his final appearance as a professional in last weekend's 3-3 draw with Oxford United.
The Pembrokeshire-born midfielder racked up almost 600 club appearances and 77 Wales caps during his distinguished career.
While Allen's family home is in south Wales, fellow Swansea veteran Kyle Naughton is thought likely to return to his native Yorkshire having announced his exit after more than a decade at the club.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
Dave Ryding, Britain's most successful Alpine skier, to retire at end of 2025-26 season
Dave Ryding, Britain's first-ever Alpine skiing World Cup winner and one of Britain's all-time greatest winter sport athletes, will retire at the close of the 2025-26 season. The 38-year-old has competed on the elite circuit for ten years, securing seven podiums – six in slalom, one in parallel slalom – in that time. The highlight of his career to date was a historic win in Kitzbuhel in 2022, the first by a Brit in the World Cup's 55-year history. Ryding is one of four British skiers to have ever recorded World Cup podiums - the most recent a third place in Madonna di Campiglio in December 2023 - and the only one to claim a victory, as well as amassing three World Championships top-10s and two Olympic top-10s over the course of his career. Ryding said it was a 'natural' decision to retire and that it was important for him to go out on a high. He recorded his best-ever World Championships results in the 2024-25 edition in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, a sixth place in slalom, and his goal is to secure a similar career best in the Winter Olympics next year. The Lancashire native told The Independent that, 'After the last Olympics, I think I was quoted as saying, I'd rather cry than do another four years, or have a divorce or something like that! I wasn't thinking I would get another four years out of myself. As you get older the younger guys catch you up and you naturally peter out. So I took it year by year, and I really felt like I went in all in every year.' But the drive and hunger to compete remained, and with Milan-Cortina on the horizon, Ryding says it felt like the 'right time' to announce this would be his final season. 'It was quite an easy decision, taking into consideration my family as well and the sacrifices they make with me being away. It was nice to think, let's draw a line there and go absolutely all in again, and then come the Olympics try to do my best ever performance.' Ryding, who is Britain's highest-ranked Alpine skier, competed in seven world Championships and Milan-Cortina is set to be his fifth Olympics for Great Britain. He took a different route than most elite Alpine skiers, growing up training and competing on dry slopes in the UK before making the transition to snow in his 20s. He made his debut on the World Cup circuit in 2009, making history as the oldest race winner in 2022 aged 35, as well as the first Briton. His highest placing at an Olympics so far was ninth in slalom in Pyeongchang in 2018. He will likely continue to contest the final World Cups of the 2025-26 season after the Games next February, but that will be his final major goal as a professional athlete. 'Whether that's the number one spot or eighth, let's see, but I want to be better than ninth and sign off with my best ever Olympic result,' he said. 'That's exactly where my mind's at, to do the best I've ever done.'
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
‘Under strain' English football must improve value for fans, report says
The English football system is "under strain," a new report has found, urging regulation to address factors like fan engagement and competitive balance. However, Deloitte's latest Annual Review of Football Finance has found a lack of clarity around future regulations is proving "unhelpful" to potential investors. According to the group's report, Europe's 'Big Five' leagues generated over 20 billion euros (£16.9 billion) in 2023-24, with Premier League clubs reporting aggregate revenue of £6.3 billion. The Football Governance Bill is set to create an independent regulator for England's top five leagues after making its way through Parliament. However, concerns remain, particularly at the top-flight level, regarding the impact of regulation on the league's growth potential and ability to attract new investment. Tim Bridge, the lead partner in the Deloitte Sports Business Group, believes that issues surrounding the competitiveness of the Premier League must also be addressed. 'There can be no doubt that the system in English football is under strain,' he wrote in the foreword to the report published on Thursday. 'Repeated reports of fan unrest at ticket price and accessibility demonstrate the challenge in the modern era of balancing commercial growth with the historic essence of a football club's role and position in society: as a community asset. 'We still await the output of the Independent Football Regulator to fully understand how this may impact the game in England, but it is clear that the way in which the game is governed and the regulation that underpins it needs to seek to drive value, fan engagement (both physical and digital) and competitive balance. 'The two most recent seasons (2023-24 and 2024-25) underscore the challenge, as in each season, all three clubs promoted from the Championship were subsequently relegated after just one season in the Premier League. 'The financial implications of the 'yo-yo effect' on clubs, their spending, and overall competitiveness are major factors to address in order to continue attracting high levels of investment across the system. 'This should though be viewed by all those running the game as an opportunity. The level of interest and the demand to engage with English football remains high and investors still see the opportunity, particularly when there is a strong community link or adjacent investment opportunities, but the lack of clarity over the future regulatory regime is now unhelpful.' Bridge noted that other top leagues are closely observing how the English regulator takes shape, highlighting an economic report by Spain's LaLiga in 2022-23 which welcomed the introduction of a regulator in England to help contain inflationary pressure on wages and other football spending. The Deloitte report again illustrated how far ahead the Premier League is of its 'Big Five' rivals currently, with its aggregate revenue almost double that of the next highest earners LaLiga – whose clubs generated a combined 3.8bn euros (£3.2bn) in 2023-24.
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
English football faces strain between money and fans' needs, says report
England's football system is 'under strain' in a climate of tension between commercial imperatives and the needs of supporters, according to a new report from Deloitte. The analysis also warns that uncertainty over the role and scope of an independent regulator is 'unhelpful' to those wishing to join the rush of investors entering the sport. The Annual Review of Football Finance painted an overall picture of a booming industry, pointing out that the European football market was worth a record £32.2bn in 2023-24. More than £16.9bn of that was generated by the 'big five' leagues, with the Premier League alone recording revenues of £6.3bn. Deloitte cautioned, though, that those numbers do not tell the full tale of a game caught between its community roots and the requirement for continued growth. 'There can be no doubt that the system in English football is under strain,' said Tim Bridge, lead partner at Deloitte sports business group, in the report's foreword. 'Repeated reports of fan unrest at ticket price and accessibility demonstrate the challenge in the modern era of balancing commercial growth with the historic essence of a football club's role and position in society: as a community asset.' A bill to create the independent football regulator went through its second reading in parliament last month. It could transform the game's governance but Bridge cited the gap between Premier League and Championship finances as a problem that must be addressed. 'It is clear that the way in which the game is governed and the regulation that underpins it needs to seek to drive value, fan engagement [both physical and digital] and competitive balance,' he said. 'The two most recent seasons underscore the challenge, as in each season, all three clubs promoted from the Championship were subsequently relegated after just one season in the Premier League. The financial implications of the 'yo-yo effect' on clubs, their spending, and overall competitiveness are major factors to address in order to continue attracting high levels of investment across the system.' The hope is that the regulator can begin its work this autumn, although roadblocks include a likely inquiry into the government's choice for its chair, David Kogan. Bridge pointed out that the uncertainty about its form rings alarm bells for investors. 'The level of interest and the demand to engage with English football remains high and investors still see the opportunity, particularly when there is a strong community link or adjacent investment opportunities, but the lack of clarity over the future regulatory regime is now unhelpful,' he said. He noted that other 'big five' leagues – those of France, Germany, Italy and Spain – are monitoring the regulator's possible effects, seeing it as a potential opportunity to close the financial chasm that has opened between England's top flight and the rest. The Premier League's aggregate revenue was almost double the £3.2bn recorded by La Liga, its nearest competitor. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Premier League clubs' aggregate operating profit grew to more than £500m in 2023-24, the report showed, but net debt was up 12% to £3.5bn. Revenues in the Championship soared by a notable 28% to £958m, but all of the division's clubs recorded operating losses. 'Long-term strategies must be established to ensure financial stability across the league,' Bridge said.
