Football stars go from the field to becoming a foodie in the hospitality industry
FROM throwing a winning pass on the field to standing behind the kitchen pass, footy players are finding a new career in food. Anthony Watmough is just one retired player who has just recently opened a new kitchen in Surry Hills.
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FROM throwing a winning pass on the field to standing behind the kitchen pass, footy players are finding a new career in food.
Anthony Watmough, 35, of Parramatta Eels and Manly-Waringah Sea Eagles fame, is the latest retired footy player turned restaurateur.
He has bought a share in Cubby’s Kitchen after it relocated from Surry Hills to the CBD and you can see him on the floor taking orders, serving customers and even cleaning the toilets.
He believes a football career is great training for a hospitality career.
“It’s still being around people,” he said.
“We spend so much of our (football) lives figuring people out, talking to people and bonding. I’ve got my job that I can control and the rest is a jigsaw puzzle that just fits.
“If you can control the people underneath you and if you work hard, things shouldn’t go too bad. I can see the similarities.”
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He was a silent partner in Tokonoma for four years before buying into Cubby’s Kitchen with restaurateurs Matt, Diala and Amanda Yazbek.
Although diners ask for selfies, Watmough wants to be seen as more than just a footballer.
“I want people to come here for the food, not to see me,” he said.
He’s not the only former football player to turn to hospitality after retirement and may have been inspired by former Sea Eagles teammate Brett Stewart who has partnered with Yazbek in Tokosan in Melbourne.
He may have been inspired by rugby union’s George Gregan.
The former Wallaby opened his first GG Espresso in 1999 and the Gregan Group’s hospitality empire now spans a chain of coffee shops, bistros and wine bars.
Footy stars who ventured into hospitality industry
George Gregan
The former Wallabies captain started out with coffee shops, the first opening in 1999 and expanding to some 16 outlets across Sydney, his Gregan Group now having grown to include other hospitality interests.
Ryan Girdler
The ex State of Origin player now runs three Girdlers cafes in the northern beaches; Dee Why, Manly and Warringah Mall.
Ben Kennedy
Previously a Newcastle Knights player, he now runs two Guzman y Gomez franchises in Newcastle.
Nathan Hindmarsh
The former Eels player opened The Tuck Shop, a cafe, in Glenhaven.
Brett Stewart
He went from playing for the Sea Eagles to buying a share in Melbourne’s Tokosan.