A member of Tottenham’s Europa League-winning squad has spoken about his unhappiness with life as a stereotypical young footballer, and why he has called time on his career to become a photographer and filmmaker.
Alfie Whiteman, 27, was with Spurs from his youth teams days before signing his first professional deal, and was part of the squad until the end of last season.
He also featured for England at Under-17 and U19 levels.
Whiteman spent two loan spells with Swedish side Degerfors, and never really looked like making any impact on the Tottenham first team.
So he started dipping his toes into other potential careers, including acting classes, broadcasting and photography.
Whiteman has now swapped his boots for the lens.
‘I signed for Spurs at 10 years old,’ he told The Athletic. ‘Then I left school at 16 and went straight into this full-time life of football.
‘When I was around 17 or 18, living in digs, I just had this feeling inside of, ‘Is this it?’ Getting on the mini bus, going to training, doing the Sports Science BTEC and going home to play video games. I realised, ‘Oh, I’m not happy here’ from quite a young age.
‘The stereotype of a footballer is generally quite true. It’s the golf, washbag culture. I was that young footballer. I wanted the Gucci washbag and I drove the Mercedes. You all just become a reflection of each other. You’re a product of your environment. It’s the way football is in this country; it’s so shut off from anything else. You go to training and then you go home, that’s it.
He added: ‘Football is a short career regardless, even if you do really well, and I knew that I didn’t want to stay in it. It was about trying to gain experience and be proactive in learning about these things I was also interested in, but mainly because I was enjoying it, and was surrounded by the kinds of people that were doing what I enjoyed as a job. They were making things. It was really inspiring.’
He made one appearance for Tottenham at senior level, which came under Jose Mourinho in the Europa League in 2020. He tried to leave in 2024, but Spurs needed club-trained players for their Europa League campaign, and he ended up being part of the winning squad.
Whiteman explain that he has two trials in the summer – one at a League One club and one at a Championship club – but eventually decided he identified ‘happiness’ in his other ventures.
He has signed up as a photographer with Somesuch, an award-winning production company with offices in London and the USA. His new career began when working for the performance shoe manufacturer Vibram.
Whiteman said: ‘I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll come hold the lights!’ And the day before that shoot, they asked for a video, too, so I was like, ‘I’ll do it. I’ll do it!’
‘There was no budget or brief, nothing. I turned up… ran around with my camera, and then took it to an editor, sat with him, and made this thing and it got posted.’
Whiteman has since worked with the likes of Nike and rapper Central Cee, also performing his craft in the likes of Norway and Ukraine. He also said he has not watched any football since retiring from playing.
His website describes Whiteman as ‘a multidisciplinary artist working across photography, directing and music’. Before adding that his work is ‘rooted in a unique journey… defined by a curiosity for how culture, identity, and community intersect’.
A solo exhibition at OOF Gallery in London next year will showcase this latest work.
