Two former professional footballers, Joe Davis and Tim Alexander, are set to launch a聽 technology platform aimed at tackling what they describe as one of sport鈥檚 most overlooked聽 problems: what happens to athletes when they exit their sport.
MOJOE, an athlete-only platform designed to modernise player care and career transition, formally launched this week, with early backing from professional football clubs in England.聽
Co-founder Davis, who spent two spells at Port Vale, represented Fleetwood Town and was on the books of Leicester City, believes too many athletes are unprepared for the heavy landing that follows deselection,聽 injury or retirement.聽
鈥淧eople see the dream,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 see what comes after it.鈥澛�
Each year, thousands of academy players are released across the English pyramid. Whilst聽 safeguarding, player care and education standards have improved significantly under EPPP聽 regulations, long-term tracking and structured transition support remain inconsistent.聽
Davis believes that gap is widening.聽
鈥淭he system is more professional than ever,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut the conveyor belt is moving faster too.聽 Players are being scouted younger, more money is being thrown at talent, decisions are more聽 ruthless, and for the majority who don鈥檛 make it, the landing is still heavy.聽
鈥淚ndustry reports evidence聽 increased investment and professionalisation but athletes are struggling more than ever in life after聽 sport.鈥澛�
Alexander, who spent the last 20 years post-football working at the forefront of big data and聽 analytics with tech giant Snowflake, adds, 鈥淭he clubs we鈥檙e speaking to understand that player care聽 is no longer a nice-to-have. It impacts reputation, recruitment and parent trust if not carried out聽 properly.聽
鈥淭he industry recognises that more needs to be done – the horror stories around depression,聽 bankruptcy and mental health still exist – but clubs simply don鈥檛 have the resources or time to do聽 anything different.鈥澛�
Over the past 18 months, Davis and Alexander have conducted research that showed an estimated聽 1.4 million athletes transition out of sport globally. In the UK alone, around 47,000 face deselection,聽 injury or retirement annually, with up to 80 percent worrying about their future, while many聽 experience a significant drop in wellbeing during their first year out of sport.聽
MOJOE aims to intervene earlier, giving players a career coach in their pocket to prepare for life聽 beyond sport ahead of their exit.聽
The idea was born from Davis鈥檚 own experience, having stepped away from the game at 27 after聽 injuries and dwindling first-team opportunities. Despite holding a first-class degree, he found聽 himself adrift.
鈥淚 was fortunate enough to follow in the footsteps of my dad and brother to become a professional聽 footballer. But when that chapter began to close, I experienced what so many athletes go through.聽 The period where your identity starts to fade, your direction is unclear, and the support system you聽 assumed would exist simply doesn鈥檛.聽
鈥淚 was one of the lucky ones. I found a new path fairly quickly. But through building MOJOE and聽 speaking to hundreds of other athletes as part of our market research, we realised my experience聽 was far from unique.鈥澛�
The platform uses AI to help athletes translate their sporting experience into career-ready profiles,聽 connect with mentors and explore opportunities beyond sport. Athletes can begin exploring聽 alternative passions while still under contract – a shift Davis believes is culturally significant.聽
鈥淲hen I played, the message was always 鈥榝ocus on your football鈥ou鈥檙e a long time retired,鈥欌�� he聽 says. 鈥淏ut the modern-day athlete understands their shelf life is short and they don鈥檛 want to wait聽 until retirement to start thinking about what鈥檚 next. They are more switched on than ever; more聽 curious; more entrepreneurial. Proactively preparing for a second career shouldn鈥檛 be taboo.鈥澛�
Behind the scenes, the company says it has tested the product with hundreds of UK athletes,聽 brought on Olympians and international footballers as ambassadors, and secured early partnerships聽 with Premier League and Championship clubs seeking more structured player-care systems amid聽 tightening academy regulations.聽
The timing is deliberate. As scrutiny around academy release rates intensifies and governing bodies聽 raise welfare standards, clubs are under pressure to demonstrate meaningful post-career support.聽
Alexander insists MOJOE is not a critique of existing systems but an evolution of them.聽
鈥淧layer care staff are doing incredible work,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut they鈥檙e often under-resourced and not聽 set up for success in their roles. Technology can help close that gap.鈥澛�
Whether athletes and clubs embrace the shift remains to be seen. But Davis is clear about the聽 ambition.聽
鈥淎s an industry, we obsess over tracking performance data – whether it鈥檚 XG, sprint speeds, heart聽 rates,鈥� Davis says. 鈥淏ut we鈥檝e tolerated massive losses in transition and neglected off-pitch data.聽 That鈥檚 the imbalance we鈥檙e determined to fix.鈥澛�