I never played for Arsenal again after 8-2 Man Utd loss – now I'm doing a different sport
Armand Traore played Premier League football for Arsenal and QPR(Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
The 2011/12 season threw up two of the most memorable matches in Premier League history and Armand Traore played in both of them.
The left-back started for Arsenal in their 8-2 defeat at Manchester United and moved to QPR days later, going on to round off the season setting up one of the Rs’ goals at Manchester City before Sergio Aguero scored a late, late winner to win the title for Roberto Mancini’s team.
These days, though, the ex-Senegal international’s mind couldn’t be further from football. He moved to Spain after retiring in 2020 and has thrown himself into martial arts, with the change helping him rebuild his life after a mental health crisis.
“After the COVID era and the lockdowns, I felt the need to go and escape somewhere,” Traore told football.london. “I was coming to terms with my career ending and I needed a bit of time and space for this.
“Where I live is on an island. There's basically not much there and I think I think it was the right choice. I found myself in a bit of a mental health crisis and having to train hard in combat sports gave me the structure that I had for 15 years. So I just kept going and going and going and going and going.”
Traore hasn’t stayed in touch with too many of his friends from football, though one notable exception is his former Arsenal and QPR colleague Jay Emmanuel-Thomas. The pair were reunited in London this week at the launch of Pro Project Promotions’ ‘A Night To Remember III’, a charity boxing night featuring 14 footballers with experience across English football’s top four divisions.
Traore is training for a fight against ex-Tottenham defender Sebastien Bassong in a north London rivalry bout. And both men have kept themselves in shape since hanging up their boots.
A typical day for the former left-back is very different compared to during his playing career. He played in England, Wales, Italy and Turkey but is now enjoying a much quieter existence in Spain.
Traore (R) will step into the ring against Sebastien Bassong(Image: Aria's Bistro)
“These days I’ll wake up and I have coffee and I'll head to combat training, whether that's muay thai or jiu jitsu,” he said. “Then I'll come back. I'll go and see a friend, usually go and pick up the kids.
“It's just chilling, grilling meat on the beach with kids and dogs and friends. And then we do it all again the next day. It's a little bit monotonous, but for me, a simple life is the best life.”
While football's no longer part of his own life, the left-back’s 15-year-old son, a 6’3” central defender, is earning trials at Premier League clubs. However, the ex-pro takes a pause when weighing up whether he would recommend a career in the game for his three children.
“I would, yes, because like it's the dream of a lifetime, but you've got to want it,” he said. “Me and them, we've had different childhoods.
“Many kids don't get it. They might have qualities but they don't have the dog in them. You find a lot of players make it to pro because they've had difficult upbringings.
“I grew up in Paris fighting all the time, getting expelled for fighting. That creates something that you will need for your career. And do they have that? I'll say to [my children], ‘It's up to you guys but I will be there to help you.’
“I think it's cool to have had the chance to be a part of [two memorable matches] but now that my career is finished, I'm like, it's just football.
“I know people take it a lot more [seriously] in England, it's almost like a cultural or religious thing of football. But when you truly think about our life and you start thinking about death and people who've lost and does it actually matter? For me, I've decided it's not that important.”
Traore finished his career at Cardiff City(Image: Getty Images)
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Traore remains grateful to the PFA for helping put him in touch with a psychiatrist when he was at his lowest point mentally. Some distance from the sport appears to suit him - you can’t get much further away than a remote Spanish island and a strict training regimen - and he wants to make sure the support is there for other ex-pros who are finding it tougher to know what comes next after a career on the pitch.
“I know that many players retire every year, but there should be some sort of centre where players can openly go there and find even mental health support or find people that are accredited and have certain connections to help them re-insert themselves within society,” he added.
“When you’re a footballer you just go to the training ground and come back, you're sort of like in a bubble. There’s help for ex-inmates to reinsert themselves in society, there should be something around that [for footballers] because not every single ex football player is in a good situation financially or a good place mentally.
“They might need help, just somebody to talk to them. And I know the PFA is there, but there should be a dedicated topic. When you retire, it’s like you've been spat out. Many people straight away think, "Oh, these players are on X amount a week.’
"It's not about this. It's about the mental health of another human being and trying to understand who they are and they can be struggling, you know? For ex-players, I think, it would be good to have someone just calling you like, 'How are you doing? How's things?'
“Because when you find yourself speaking to a line that is for people that have mental health issues, sometimes there's these numbers. Like I've found myself calling and they don't know that I'm a footballer. But if somebody knows and has seen many similar cases then it could help.”
Armand Traore will fight Sebastien Bassong at Pro Project Promotions’ A Night to Remember III at Grosvenor House Hotel in London on October 22. Buy tickets here.
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