Michail Antonio – Building For The Future
At the age of 32, Premier League star Michail Antonio is starting to prepare for life after football. The West Ham United striker has a burgeoning business portfolio with more investments planned. He is also eyeing up media opportunities in presenting as well as holding ambitions to own a football club. fcbusiness spoke to him to discover his forthcoming plans…
Words: Tony Incenzo
Michail, you are currently appearing at the very highest football level and scoring goals. So why are you looking beyond the end of your playing career?
If things go well, I should have another three to four years as a footballer. But I always plan for the future. As soon as I turned 30, the first thing I did was to set targets for when I retire from football. Therefore, I can walk straight into my new roles rather than thinking: “What am I going to do now?”
Firstly, you have an interest in becoming a presenter. What are your hopes there?
I definitely do have ambitions to become a presenter. I would prefer to do that rather than football punditry, which I also enjoy. But if I get my way, it would be to hopefully have my own television show analysing football. I already have a podcast and I am talking to production companies plus other media outlets about presenting work.
Apart from that, you have a keen interest in the financial sector. Why do you feel it is important to invest in business?
There are certain things that people always invest in such as bricks and mortar in the housing market. However, if you are really ambitious, it is always best to invest in a business because you never know how much that business can grow and how much money you can make. Obviously, there are always risks where you could invest in the wrong project. But it is all about diversifying your money in analysing which investments you believe in and which ones you don’t. I trust my gut feeling and essentially doing the right research. You need to check data and the accounts of a business before making an investment. At the end of the day, it is always going to be a risk but it is a risk worth taking if everything works out well for you.
It sounds like you have thought a great deal about your business plan. Have you taken any courses in economics?
I haven’t done much studying. I have learned by doing. I have invested in a number of projects and that has given me good knowledge. As time has gone by, I have learned that research is essential to find out what is good in business and what isn’t. Yes, I have lost money because obviously I was learning as I was going along. But I have also made money as I have been doing more.
What sort of companies have you been investing in?
A wide range. I have invested in pharmaceuticals and production companies as well as leading XR sports training company Rezzil. It is interesting to see that a number of other football starts have invested in Rezzil including Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas, Tyrone Mings, Vincent Kompany and Gary Neville.
Alongside your business involvement, you have also launched the Michail Antonio Football Academy in South London. This combines football and education for teenage students. It must be nice to help young people?
That’s why I set up my football academy. It is just something that I have always wanted to do. Because when I grew up in South London, there weren’t many opportunities to break through into full-time football. So I want to give local kids the chance to have proper coaching in a professional environment. But it is not just the football side of things as I am also looking at their education. The academy enables them to do apprenticeships, become a football coach or even learn music. If things go well, I want to franchise the academy out including a base in East London where I have played my football for the past seven years with West Ham.
Do you have ambitions to own a football club?
Yes definitely. I started out in the Isthmian League as a youngster with Tooting & Mitcham United FC. So I have good relationships with Non-League football. I am hoping if things go well for me that I will own a club one day. For every player, once you retire from football you still want to be in and around it. So even if I go into presenting, I still want to have that football involvement. So far I have had my dream of being a Premier League goalscorer, I now have my dream of owning a football academy and being a businessman. The next step is to own a club. I’ve seen players like Cesc Fabregas do it and even Robbie Savage has shares in Macclesfield. Footballers are starting to buy clubs and I want to be the next one.
How important is it to have a good team of people around you to fulfil all these dreams?
It is massive. My agent Michael Appiason is like a brother to me. Then I’ve got Kenny Annan-Jonathan from The MailRoom agency who is my business manager and I’ve known him since I was 11-12 years old. So it is good to have tight knit people around me who I know I can trust as they will keep an eye on everything. They can help bring the right opportunities because they know me. I can’t just jump on every project that comes along. It needs to fit me and fit my personality. If someone gets involved with a business and they know nothing about it, then they can get lost in it.
Well lastly, is it fair to say you take nothing for granted about your future because you had humble roots as a Non-League footballer in South London?
Yes one hundred percent. I didn’t have much money when I was growing up. So it wasn’t easy. Then I came into professional football late. So because of those humble roots, I look back on things and think that I don’t want me or my family to ever be struggling in the future. As a result, I always want to have plans for steps I can take. Not big steps but steps I can make one at a time to get into my stride and achieve what I want. Yes I have set my targets high but I always take small steps to reach up towards those targets. If you try to jump straight from the bottom right to the top in one go, a lot of the time you are never going to make it.
Images: Imago Images / Pro Sport Images
