![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/i-worked-in-chippy-and-played-for-england-now-i-prepare-athletes-for-retirement/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/crop-23210736.jpg&description=FISH FORTUNE Published : 13:41, 27 Jul 2023 Updated : 13:41, 27 Jul 2023 ANDY JOHNSON went from using today's chip paper to being tomorrow's back-page news. Now the former England striker is helping athletes prepare for life after retirement. 3 Andy Johnson earned £40,000 per week at Everton Credit: Getty 3 He made senior eight caps for England Credit: Getty Johnson grew up in Bedford as the son of an NHS worker and a roofer and got his first job as a teenager - a far cry from the £40,000 per week he earned at Everton and Fulham. He told The Times in 2021: "We certainly weren't well off, but my mum and dad had really good jobs and they worked to give me everything. "I worked a Saturday job in a chip shop in Bedford, a place called Andy's Chippy — it's still there now, actually. "I was 15, a year before I joined Birmingham City [in 1998]. "Mum and Dad were sick of giving me pocket money for sweets and they told me to get out and get into the real world. "It was a good laugh, and it was nice to earn a bit of money for myself." Johnson , 42, added: "I earned top-endish money at both Everton and Fulham, upwards of £40,000 a week. Only regular internationals got six figures back then. "They say there's a very small window now when players need to maximise their earnings. "With injuries and lack of form, the actual time on the pitch when you're physically at your peak is five to six years, even though your actual career can be much longer." Johnson came through at Birmingham before spells with Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham and QPR then finished his career in 2015 after a brief return to Selhurst Park. His red-hot form at Palace earned him his £8.6million transfer to Goodison Park - but first came his senior England debut in 2005, snubbing the chance to represent Poland. He was a reserve for the Three Lions at the 2006 World Cup and went on to make eight caps, failing to score. During his playing days, Johnson co-founded his own property company and works as an ambassad){kind=link}
ANDY JOHNSON went from using today’s chip paper to being tomorrow’s back-page news.
Now the former England striker is helping athletes prepare for life after retirement.
Johnson grew up in Bedford as the son of an NHS worker and a roofer and got his first job as a teenager – a far cry from the £40,000 per week he earned at Everton and Fulham.
He told The Times in 2021: “We certainly weren’t well off, but my mum and dad had really good jobs and they worked to give me everything.
“I worked a Saturday job in a chip shop in Bedford, a place called Andy’s Chippy – it’s still there now, actually.