Henri Lansbury has announced his retirement from football after the end of his Luton Town contract but will stay on the grass with his new organic grass fertiliser business that is already helping a host of football clubs improve their pitches.
The 32-year-old suffered an injury that required surgery last season which he has said cut all the nerves in his thigh, and though he returned to action his last game was as a substitute in a stalemate against Hull City in May on Town’s way to Premier League promotion.
It was the midfielder’s fourth promotion to the top flight after helping Norwich, West Ham and Aston Villa back to the big time, having been an Arsenal academy graduate.
Posting on social media, Lansbury wrote: “I didn’t think this day would come where I would be saying that I am retiring from professional football.
“I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who I have had the pleasure of working with in the football world, from managers, coaches, to team-mates and to opponents – it’s been one hell of a ride!
“I’m so grateful for the amazing experiences – from the clubs that I have represented, being part of four promotions, to representing England at youth level and for the support I received whilst overcoming testicular cancer. The highs and the lows, I’ve loved every minute of it.
“I would like to say a massive thank you to my wife, children, family and friends for being with me throughout. Peace out and catch you all on grass soon”.
During Lansbury’s time at Luton he also developed his own Grass Gains lawncare company with former Arsenal’s groundsman Mark Pettit, which is what he’s turned his attention to now he’s hung up his boots.
His love for lawns and grass went viral after his stunning strike and lawnmower celebration in a 2-0 win at Hull in September, which proved to be his last ever goal.
Speaking to talkSPORT after the expiry of his Luton contract, Lansbury said: “It came about during the first lockdown when I was stuck at home and got into gardening.
“I started to spray my weeds with toxic stuff and put toxic fertiliser down and my missus wasn’t too happy about the kids running on the grass straight after.
“I was trying to usher them off and she said ‘why can’t they just make an organic fertiliser?’
“I put my head together with my mate and me and the boys have cracked on and taken it to another level.”
He added: “We’ve done Fulham, we’ve done Genk and we’re in at Monaco soon.
“We’re going in the right direction, a few local clubs have asked for it and we’ve put it down on their pitches as well.
“I want to give back to the local clubs really, I want them to have a nice pitch to play on, there’s nothing better than a kid running on a pitch with stripes on it and that’s what it does, it helps stripe it off.
“It’s taken off really, and during the summer I’ve not kept fit and I’ve gone full-time on this, next week we have a meeting with Homebase.
“It was a massive weight off my shoulders really, I was injured before the World Cup and I haven’t been the same since.”
