Former footballers Joe Davis (Leicester City, Port Vale) and Tim Alexander have announced the launch of MOJOE, an AI-driven platform designed to modernize player care. The venture addresses the “heavy landing” many athletes face due to injury, deselection, or retirement, aiming to turn sporting experience into viable professional profiles outside the pitch.
The platform launches against a backdrop of alarming statistics: approximately 47,000 athletes in the UK face career transitions annually, with a vast majority experiencing significant drops in wellbeing during their first year out of professional sport.
1. Technology Closing the Support Gap
While elite clubs track every on-pitch metric—from $xG$ to heart rates—off-pitch data has historically been neglected. MOJOE aims to fix this imbalance:
- Career Profiling: Using AI to help athletes translate their unique sporting skills (leadership, resilience, discipline) into corporate-ready career profiles.
- Mentorship & Networking: Connecting players with mentors and exploring opportunities in industries beyond sport.
- Club Resources: Enabling Premier League and Championship clubs to track long-term outcomes of their former players more effectively, enhancing recruitment and parent trust.
2. Funding and Ambassadorship
MOJOE has already gained significant traction within the footballing community:
- Investment: The venture successfully raised £215,000 through a Friends & Family funding round.
- Elite Support: High-profile players such as Reece James and Ben Osborn have joined as ambassadors to champion the cause.
3. A Shift in Player Care Philosophy
Co-founder Tim Alexander emphasizes that player care is no longer a “nice-to-have” but a necessity for a club’s reputation. “The industry recognizes that more needs to be done—the horror stories around depression and bankruptcy still exist,” Alexander noted. Co-founder Joe Davis added that while the industry obsesses over performance data, it has “tolerated massive losses in transition.” MOJOE intends to use technology to empower under-resourced player care staff and provide a safety net for the “conveyor belt” of modern football.