The last two weeks have been emotional ones for Alex Rodman. His 13-year football career, spanning seven clubs and 584 senior appearances, most notably at Bristol Rovers and Shrewsbury Town, came to an end, with the winger remembered fondly as an honest and hard-working performer who, arguably, can also have laid claim to being one of the best golfers in the professional game.
But while speaking in the past-tense still bruises a little, for Rodman the announcement confirming his retirement and the finality of it all came as a relief. Well-meaning messages on social media from supporters have touched him far beyond what he expected but, by his own admission, he’s essentially been retired for the last eight months.
His final years at the Gas have been plagued by back issues and a broken leg, limiting him to just four appearances over the last two seasons but the real demon behind his lack of availability has been his struggle with Vestibular Neuritis (vertigo).
The 36-year-old first came down with the disorder in 2020, when Ben Garner was in charge. Vertigo attacks the inner ear and leads to balance issues, which is only the start; intense and debilitating dizzy spells, a sense of everything around you moving, nausea, sleep deprivation and an inability to engage in basic human activities such as walking or even leaving the house, let alone any kind of exercise.
Over significant periods throughout this time, he’s been unable to watch television, read a book, use a computer or a mobile phone, as all have acted as triggers for symptoms to return.
After getting through that first bout, Rodman suffered a relapse at the start of last season and knew his time as a professional footballer was up. During a routine gym session he lifted himself off a mat, turned to his right and “felt like someone had hit me around the head with a brick”.
As further research is conducted into dementia and brain injuries and the potential links with football, on the advice of doctors who said it would be “dangerous” for him to continue, although Rodman’s situation is not at the upper end of the severity scale - something he is keen to continually emphasise, especially in light of Marcus Stewart’s MND diagnosis - he simply couldn’t take any kind of risk by playing on.
“A game of football is not important when it comes to your long-term health, especially with issues involving your head,” Rodman tells Bristol Live. “After the brain scans and as soon as the doctors spoke to me, I knew that door was closed.
“It probably took me a week to get my head around it and go, ‘that’s it’, because I’m never going to go against medical advice. But I’m also someone who can be quite matter of fact and once it was taken out of my hands, it made the decision easier.
“There’s just no way I could have played on, let alone trained every day. It would have been a lottery. I got over it in late November, had a good December and Christmas but then had a relapse in January and it’s been on and off since then. If I was going to come in and train, every day I’d be saying to the physio, ‘I can’t do it today’. It just would have been impossible.
“But, to be totally honest with you, I’ve been alright with it. I thought I’d be worse. I thought I’d miss it more and long for it more than I have.
“The first Saturday off I remember thinking, ‘this is weird, what’s going on’ - I didn’t know what to do with myself. But from then on, I’ve come to terms with it.”
Rodman jokes, almost with an embarrassed tone, that these words don’t subscribe to the usual stories of footballers, and the obvious longing for the professional environment once they let it go. But he’s found the transition to civvy street strangely freeing.
“It’s not necessarily what people want to hear but because I was able to throw myself full-time into my business, having that being so passionate about it and being able to work it and apply myself fully to that has been quite stark,” he adds, having now started working full-time as a financial advisor.
“That project of building it and growing it has been the driver of not missing the football. I was lucky to play 13 years as a professional so it was almost a fresh challenge for me.
“There was another element to it, and it’s something we don’t speak of much, but it’s the sacrifice you make, day-in and day-out; your sleep, your hydration, your drinking, your eating, your stretching, your preparation... every single day.
"You’re going out for a meal and you’re weighing up what food you can eat to the nth degree because you need X amount of protein, carbs; you shouldn’t have this, shouldn’t have that. And when you do that day-in, day-out for over a decade it’s nice, finally on a Friday night, when you can go, ‘so what if I fancy a pizza or a beer’ or I don’t have to worry about getting seven-and-a-half hours sleep. Just having that freedom was pretty refreshing.
“There’s so much prep that goes into 3pm on a Saturday and I’ve always been one of those who’s not been able to cut corners. If on a Saturday if I didn’t feel 100 per cent I’d be angry at myself that maybe I’d cut a corner in the week. So it was refreshing not to have to worry about that pressure.”
Now on daily medication and with a greater awareness of when and how it may strike, he’s had to be careful over his caffeine and alcohol consumption, while cutting out various foods - Chinese food being one - from his diet to try and abate the symptoms.
He estimates he’s able to function normally at around “75-80 per cent of the time” and although he’s been able to return to the sanctuary of the golf course, he has to carefully limit the amount of exercise he does to just one day a week.
“It’s been a really tough time, mentally as well as physically, for me and my partner. I was literally on my sofa for two-and-a-half months not able to do anything,” he says. “It’s just taken so long to get to a point where I can go out and I can do things normally, which has been the toughest part.
“But I’ve got to be really thankful to the club doctor, Ian Ferguson, he’s been brilliant with me. Tom Gorringe and the club have been fantastic, helping me out and have allowed me to see some of the top specialists, so I’m very thankful to them. I’ve certainly put Ian through his paces. I think I must have tested him more than he’s been tested by any player.
“Sometimes I have to just listen to my body and my head and say, ‘look, you can’t do that’ and today has to be a day where there’s minimal screen time, not too much exertion.
"I've had times where I’ve tried to go for a 15-minute jog and I’ve suffered the next day and the dizziness comes back. It’s almost where the body’s exerting itself, all systems kind of collapse and it’s trying to build that back up. But it’s been like that since August, and it’s May and I’ve still not been able to build my body back to anywhere near the levels I used to train at. It’s body management and trying to manage any triggers.
“I’m a person who likes to crack on and be busy so it’s been very challenging to not do that stuff when you want to. I’m learning as you go but I’m hopefully getting to a place where I’m fully functional and able to do what I can but it’s not there yet.”
Despite what has been a cruel, frustrating and also concerning end to his career and the various adjustments he’s subsequently had to make to his life, Rodman looks back with fondness on what he’s been able to achieve having taken an unorthodox route into the pro game via university.
Having not progressed through the academy systems at Aston Villa and Wolves, he studied business at Nottingham Trent University before working his way up the non-league pyramid and earning a first professional contract at then League Two side Aldershot.
It was in north Hampshire, in 2011, when he first suffered serious illness as he was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism as after complaining of chest pains, doctors found three blood clots on his lungs which, by his own admission, could have killed him.
After recovering, which involved taking blood-thinning medication, it was then onto Grimsby Town, Gateshead, Newport County, Notts County, Shrewsbury Town where he scored in the play-off final of 2018 only to finish on the losing side before finally settling at Rovers as Darrell Clarke brought him to BS7 later that summer.
Following Alfie Kilgour’s departure to Mansfield in January he became the longest-serving player at the club. It may be heavily asterisked given his inability to match that longevity with minutes, but has allowed him to offer first-hand evidence of how the club has evolved during that period.
Yes, in very raw terms Rovers have essentially stayed still between when he signed - as they ended the 2017/18 campaign 13th in the table, and he bows out with Joey Barton’s side finishing 17th - but the change, in his words, has been “astronomic”.
The development of The Quarters is an obvious visual representation of that, as Rovers were training at Cribbs Sport & Social Club for a large part of his early days in blue and white, but beyond that has been the development of a unifying culture. A word he uses consistently when describing life at Rovers in 2023.
Holding a Masters in Sports Directorship, this isn’t a cursory peep behind the curtain, as many players may take an apathetic view to the governance and management of a club, but is said by Rodman with genuine interest, excitement, knowledge and insight.
“The difference between when I joined and now has been astronomic,” Rodman says. “Credit to the owner for what he’s done, Tom Gorringe and other people before him, Joey, in terms of how he changed the culture, some of the other managers before him who helped put that in place - Ben and Cogs (Graham Coughlan). The change has been just incredible.
“The shift in attitude, the training ground, the facilities, inside the dressing room; the levels and standards at the club are so much more ready to take it to the next step.
“I was lucky enough to score a few times against Rovers but I remember thinking with the atmosphere the fans made, I’d love to be part of a team that’s doing well, playing for Bristol Rovers in a city like this and being involved in some progression. But I think everything behind the scenes when I first signed wasn’t ready for that to be there.
"What I’ve seen since is that things have moved in such a positive direction, the club is ready to take that next step. Wael Al-Qadi is one of the best owners, if not the best, I’ve worked under.
“I’ve seen many clubs, many dressing rooms and many ownership structures and I think when you have someone at the top like Wael who gets it, and with the foundations that have been put in place, Bristol Rovers is in a fantastic position to move forward.
“Recruitment, playing staff, the non-playing staff - everything that has been put in place, Rovers are almost there now in terms of needing everything to kick on. If I was a Gashead, which I am now, I'm a fan, it’s a really exciting time.
“The culture is now one that allows and breeds success. It allows for 7-0 wins on the final day of the season, when everything is aligned, and I think there are many more of those days around the corner.”
It hasn’t solely been on Barton’s watch - Rodman highlights some of the practices and attitudes started by Garner and Coughlan - but since the Scouser took over in February 2021 from Paul Tisdale, after the pain of relegation there has been a very clear acceleration in how things are done for the better.
“I think Ben is a fantastic human being, as a man-manager and a person. I have so much time for him and I wasn’t surprised he went on to have success at Swindon and some of his philosophies in how to build the club were really impressive,” he adds.
“But sometimes it just takes time, when a club hasn’t been in the right place for a long time. Ben was a catalyst for doing that, putting things in place.
"With the career Joey has had and what he’s done, he’s got a fantastic football brain, he’s got a lot of charisma and a lot of players will listen to him. He knows what he wants from the club because he’s seen success and what it takes. He’s taken it forward and accelerated it on.
“I should also mention Cogs because Graham took over under really difficult circumstances and did really well. But Joey has picked up the baton and taken it onto another level, in terms of the recruitment - some of the signings have been incredible. Joey doesn’t take any prisoners, he calls a spade a spade and that’s what delivers success.
“A little bit later than he wanted, perhaps, because he had the relegation but we had the ship turned in the right direction and sometimes you have to go backwards to go forwards and it’s definitely moving forwards now.”
Naturally, bidding farewell to the game carries all sorts of emotions but pride and reflection have been the overwhelming ones. He looks back on his time at Rovers with real fondness and with a first child on the way, and he and his partner well-settled in north Bristol, just 15 minutes away from the Mem, they will be Gasheads for life.
Living in the area and with his post-football business ventures, he’s connected, and played golf, with several Rovers fans and he’s been able to step outside the bubble and immerse himself in the community.
“I’ve quite a few mates still at the club,” he adds. “I spent the most amount of time in my career at Rovers. I’m settled in the Bristol area, my partner and I love it down here so there’s a real strong attachment.
"I was really touched by the messages I received and some of the memories and moments shared with the Gasheads, it really touched me and it was really nice to sit there and read how different scenarios, games, goals and times impacted different fans and relive them.
"I meant every word of the message I put out. You don’t always realise what it means to people at the time because you’re always focused on the next game but when you step back, you really appreciate it. Rovers will be in my heart for a long time and I’m sure I’ll get back down to the Mem over time.”
Having studied for two degrees, and probably given his slightly unconventional path, his route past his sporting career wasn’t going to be a traditional one. Although Rodman remains heavily involved with the PFA as he sits on the Players Board, his financial advisory company Sterling James Wealth Management has been active for more than a year.
While ostensibly a business venture, there is also a greater meaning and message behind it because having witnessed how badly advised and directed many footballers and sportspeople often are by agents and clubs, it provides a service that comes with a strong degree of empathy and understanding due to Rodman’s own footballing career.
A study in 2014 by XPro discovered that around 40 per cent of top-flight players are declared bankrupt within five years of retiring while 33 per cent also go through divorce proceedings a year after hanging their boots up; something that brings its own financial and mental pressures. And while those figure are now a little out of date, it still isn’t a problem that's been eradicated in just nine years.
“I think it’s scarier than I first thought,” Rodman says. “When you look at those statistics; 10 out of every 25 in a squad are going to be bankrupt. They’re not going to be able to make monthly bills. That is really shocking. There needs to be education on that.
“It’s a tough industry. Yes, there’s an awful lot of money floating around in it but unless you’re smart with it, you can’t come out the other end of it.
“Having seen colleagues, teammates and friends go through this, I realised there’s a real need for good, solid financial advice and, with the greatest respect, my understanding of some agents - not all - but some weren’t always black and white and didn’t always do things with the best interests of the players at heart. And that feeds into the financial world as well, to be honest.
“When we got into the business I probably didn’t fully realise just how murky the waters are, in terms of seeing how other people have been treated. Football sometimes doesn’t have the best reputation for that and, as a business, we’ve always done things how I wanted to be treated as a player.
“I’m in a fortunate position where I can sit down with professionals and athletes and I know what they’re feeling, the pressures they’re under, their needs and wants, probably better than most because I’ve lived it myself. It’s certainly an area of football that concerns me and hopefully things can improve.”
That’s a long-term goal and in the immediate, outside of his business, Rodman is focused on his work with the PFA, his health and, of course, the game of golf. He’s signed up to play on the Clutch Pro Tour - a UK developmental tour which feeds into the Challenge Tour, the tier below the main European Tour - with upcoming events at Manor House in Castle Combe and Machynys in Wales, plus there’ll be a bid to try and qualify for The Open.
“It’s a big passion for me and I’m just looking to challenge myself in a different environment,” Rodman explains. “I love the difference between football and golf; football is so reactionary, so automatic and things need to be processed so fast. Golf is so much in the mind, a slower mental process and the psychology fascinates me.
“It’s a completely different challenge, one I’m just looking through myself into, and just enjoying being in a different sporting environment and see how I get on.
“It’s partly how I’ve been able to make the transition (into retirement), I guess. The business is another challenge for me and I always feel like I need progression, goals and challenges to keep testing myself and be a better person, footballer, golfer or business person.
"And as long as I keep setting myself those challenges in those ways, I’ve realised over these last few years that’s what keeps me in a good mind.”
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