It really makes sense for players to make the drop down to non-league soccer when their professional careers have “faded.” Several players have settled with such an idea, with a number of former English Premier League soccer players willing to step away from the “spotlight” in the final years of their soccer career. Jermaine Pennant, who once played for Liverpool Football Club and Arsenal Football Club in the Premier League, penned a deal last week to play for Billericay Town and it'll be nice to know whose footsteps the former England international followed.
Here's a quick look at the four Premier League players that eventually ended up their career in non-league clubs in England.
Luke Chadwick
A product of Manchester United Football Club youth academy, Luke Chadwick made 25 Premier League appearances for United between 1999 and 2003 and earned an EPL winner's medal after the 2000-2001 season. A bit-part player, Chadwick was compelled to leave Manchester United permanently in 2004 on a free move to West Ham United, following a “succession” of loan stints. However, it was MK Dons where Chadwick finally “settled” in 2009, making 203 starts for the team. Chadwick later moved on to the Soham Town Rangers and Cambridge United.
Darren Carter
Darren Carter played in the EPL for West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City FC from 2002 to 2007, before “dropping down” out of the league.
At the start of the 2015-2016 season, Cater joined Forest Green Rovers Football Club, earning 62 appearances and bagging 11 goals. Carter has since signed with the National League Solihull Moors Football Club.
Jamie O'Hara
It seems like a very long-time since Jamie O'Hara was plying his soccer trade in the EPL for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Portsmouth FC and Tottenham Hotspur.
O'Hara joined Billericay Town FC in 2017, with a recent injury “damaging” his soccer career at the top flight level. Jamie O'Hara opened his goal-scoring account for Billericay Town with a superb overhead shot in April 2017.
Julio Arca
Julio Arca enjoyed a successful soccer career with Middlesbrough Football Club and Sunderland Football Club between 2000 to 2013 before retiring from professional soccer, though Julio Arca was soon back in soccer playing for second division club Willow Pond and later for the English Northern League Division II South Shield Football Club, where he helped the club gain publicity.
