Former Colchester United defender Luke Prosser on life after football

“I didn’t really enjoy it anymore,” admits the former U’s centre-back, whose final game as a professional came for Stevenage in their League Two game at Carlisle United on April 30, 2022.

“I didn’t want to leave Colchester and I was hoping my time at Stevenage would have been better but it put me off a bit of football, all of the politics of it all.

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“I’d done it all my life and of the offers I had last summer, some of them were good but others didn’t excite me anymore.

“I think that told me that I was ready for something different really.

“There are little things that I miss like being with the boys and stuff but I don’t miss playing.

“With all of the prep you go through all your life just to prepare for a game; every weekend is taken up with football and travelling.

“It makes you realise what you sacrifice whereas now at weekends, I can do stuff with my kids or we can go away.

“We had a new baby a couple of months ago so I’m a stay-at-home Dad at the moment!”

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Prosser enjoyed an impressive 17-year playing career, starting out as a youngster at his boyhood club Tottenham Hotspur and finishing at Stevenage.

The 35-year-old achieved plenty in that time, making more than 400 league and cup appearances as a professional, winning promotion with both Southend United and Northampton Town and playing at Wembley Stadium in the Football League Trophy Final.

Prosser joined Colchester in 2016 and made 119 league and cup appearances for the club under John McGreal, during a four-year spell at the JobServe Community Stadium.

In his final season with the U’s he played 45 times as they reached the League Two play-offs, where they lost out to Exeter City.

Colchester also made it to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals in that campaign, beating Spurs and Crystal Palace and then taking on Manchester United, at Old Trafford.

“That last year at Colchester was probably my most memorable year in football,” said Prosser.

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“My Dad jokes with me, saying in 17 years in football, you have a million more lows than you have highs but that last year at Colchester was probably my best year of my career.

“I might have played a bit better at Southend under Phil Brown but what we achieved as a squad and the group of lads…it just needed to be topped off with a promotion – that was the sickening thing.

“If we’d have kept that squad, we felt so confident that we would have flown up that league but it wasn’t meant to be.

“So much has changed at that club since I left – I don’t think I’d recognise a lot of the players as it has been a massive turnaround of players.

“It’s been disappointing to see them struggle and they do need to get it right, because it’s such a good club and it can really challenge at the top half of the table.

“I’ve always looked out for their results every week and I probably will still continue to do so.

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“I really do hope they get it right on and off the pitch, because it’s such a good club with the facilities.

“It’s a League One club minimum.

“I always see Colchester as my club, where I was captain and whatnot.

“Back then, my head was very much like ‘get your badges, stay in football’.

“I got on really well with John McGreal and Steve Ball and I thought maybe there might be a route to be a member of their coaching staff which you see quite often with older pros and I saw my future sort of there.”

Prosser says at this moment in time, he has no plans to return to football as a coach or a manager.

The former Port Vale defender has received both playing and coaching offers since leaving Stevenage but is enjoying spending time with his family, something that was more limited when he was a professional footballer.

He said: “I think when I came away and then seeing certain things and the stress it puts on people…there’s no security in coaching or managing.

“As a player, it’s different because you might be able to get a loan or go to another club but as a manager, you get sacked from one job and then where’s your next job?

“You’ve got to move away and travel and I’ve sort of done that when I was younger.

“As much as I love football, that part puts me off.

“Don’t get me wrong, if you get to the very top it can be very rewarding and then you can maybe up and move.

“But the security side of it puts me off and I don’t want to put my family through that.

“I’m not saying I’d never, ever go back to football.

“Maybe after a little bit of time away if I got offered something, it might really get me going again.

“I had a phone call from Palace about a potential player-coach role.

“I hadn’t thought about that in the slightest but when that came up, I was so excited.

“I didn’t get the job but if that phone call came again tomorrow, I’d probably feel like that again.

“My future could be in football but we’ll see what happens.

“At this moment in time, over the last year I’ve enjoyed things like going to watch Spurs play with my Dad – I haven’t done that since I was there as a kid.

“I feel like I can do more things with the family.

“We went to Disneyland last August when everyone was back in pre-season and playing games.

“It was a weird feeling not playing the first game of the season but it was even weirder being away on holiday in August!

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“Some people I spoke to couldn’t really understand why I wanted to come away from football and I had a fair few offers in the Conference but it wasn’t what I wanted to do any more, being in a hotel every other weekend.

“If I’d played every weekend at Stevenage, it might have been a little bit different because I could have got promoted with them.

“But when it didn’t go so well and you’re getting older – I turned 35 last week – I’m happy to try something completely different.

“The thought of trying something completely different actually excites me more than running out on a football pitch, as of late.”