Given the highly lucrative careers in football nowadays one would assume this would lead to everyone in the game saying goodbye to the full-time work early.
However, this is not always the case with many players who go on to become managers working well into their 60s and into their 70s in some cases.
Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson is one of these few and he is still managing in the top tier of English football at the ripe old age of 71.
He started off his career in the dugout in 1976 with Swedish club Halmstad before he reached his 30th birthday.
Hodgson has then gone onto manage 22 different teams including the England national team between 2012-2016.
After 43 years in the profession it doesn’t look like Hodgson will stop any time soon, and Palace’s Premier League game at home to Leicester on Saturday, February 23 will make him the oldest manager serving manager in the English top flight ever.
He will be 71 years and 198 days old when the fixture rolls around, overtaking the previous record holder Sir Bobby Robson, who was 71 years and 192 days old on his final day in management at Newcastle.
Leicester City vs Crystal Palace kicks-off on Saturday at 5.30pm.
Full commentary from the Premier League showdown will be live on talkSPORT, with our coverage getting underway at 5pm.