AFTER a professional football career, there are a few routes available to players in order to stay involved with the game they love.

Some drop into the semi-professional game, whilst others look at adjacent fields, such as coaching, agency, or football-related business.

For new Poole Town recruit and former Cherries midfielder Wes Fogden, it is a combination of the two, with the 34-year-old pairing his playing career with his day-job as Head of Football at Elite Skills Arena.

Perhaps a few would have been slightly perplexed when Fogden announced he was departing Dorking Wanderers despite their promotion to the National League, but the former Dorchester and Brighton man explained how the four-hour round trip to Sussex just for training and home games was taking its toll.

Fogden told the Daily Echo: “There was a lot of travel involved the past two seasons which meant a lot of late nights and long days.

“A usual day for training would be to start at work for 9am, finishing early at 3.30pm, and then a quick change over at home to pack my bag and out the door for training before 4pm.

“I wouldn’t get home until 11.30 some nights with road closures, et cetera.

“Because of these long days, food prep and other things needed to be arranged and it was tough.”

Fogden’s role at ESA sees him travel the world demonstrating the companies’ "advanced training equipment", whilst also working under former Cherries chairman Eddie Mitchell.

It is a professional relationship that dates back 15 years to when the pair were both at Dorchester.

“I have taken on a lot more at work now, which requires more hours,” added Fogden.

“I’ve been working for Eddie Mitchell for a while now, and have known him going back 15 years and he’s been really good to me.

“I know he also wanted me to sign for Poole Town.

“I’m hoping that we will be pushing for promotion this season and this is what we all play football for.

“There had been times over the last season where I would have been needed to travel away with work to clubs or teams in different countries, but wasn’t able to due to commitments to Dorking.

“But now I will hopefully be able to do both, with Tom (Killick) and Eddie both knowing the situation.”