After wringing everything out of a Premier League and international football career that once seemed like it might never happen, Harry Arter has earned a restful retirement.
He moved to Dubai earlier this year with exactly that in mind. But it is not panning out quite as planned.
Instead, he is back playing – as frequently as his body permits – for Precision Football in the third tier of the UAE league structure. And he has an exacting day job, too.
He has a role with Wasserman, the agency who looked after his own interests when he was a player, as well as the likes of Steven Gerrard, John Stones and Federico Valverde.
It took him to Saudi Arabia twice last week. The return trip on the second commute was a red-eye flight, and he needed the caffeine jolt of a cortado to revive him on arrival at Precision’s training centre at Ibn Battuta Mall.
Clearly, the work ethic that characterised the tough-tackling midfielder’s playing style is carrying over into his career after the pro game.
“There’s a lot of good agents,” Arter, 34, said. “There’s a lot of really bad agents, and people that work within football. I’ve seen so many that can have a positive and a negative influence.
“That side of football is my interest, and over the last four or five years I’ve been studying and looking at ways of trying to develop.”
A keenness to carry on playing, a willingness to help mould aspiring pros, plus an enviable contacts book, made Arter an obvious recruit for the Precision mission.
In admittedly very different spheres, the goal of Precision is similar to that Arter once faced with Bournemouth. Namely, to make it to the top league and compete, to play in continental competition, all from a humble starting point.
Precision began as an innovative community football hub, on a car park in a shopping mall. Then Sonny Cobbs, the founder and CEO, was persuaded to start a senior team.
They won promotion in their first season and, perhaps unsurprisingly given their playing squad, are well placed to do similar this season. Arter is playing in the same XI as other ex-Premier League players like Ravel Morrison and Matty Lowton, as well as some talented youngsters.
“It’s a club that is really on the rise,” Arter said. “Sonny’s great. He is really positive and wants to improve as well. The club is going to face moments where there are going to be decisions that are tough because it is such a new club.
“I’ve really enjoyed it, and it's worked really well with what I'm doing away from the pitch. It coincides with what I hope to do in the future.”
Cobbs is glad to have people of Arter’s pedigree on board. “The lads that I have in are a great fit in terms of they want to give back,” Cobbs said.
“They want to help the younger players. These young players, they want to try to move on, and these players are kind of coming to the end of their career and could offer them guidance.”
The project has reunited Arter and Cobbs, 15 years after they played non-league football together at Welling United.
The East London club was in the fifth tier of the English pyramid at the time, and both players aspired to careers in the pro game. Now, each have reached the same point via contrasting routes.
Cobbs called time aged just 23 on a pro career that took in stints at Brighton and Southampton, as well as a brief but eventful spell as an overseas player in Lebanon.
While he set about building a career in coaching that has led to the creation of Precision, Arter went on to play over 200 times for Bournemouth, and get 19 caps for the Republic of Ireland.
All of which is quite the achievement for someone who faced serious injury as a teenager, and had to drop out of league football before bouncing back.
“I played through the majority of the leagues growing up,” Arter said. “I took a big drop down to non-league and that’s where you learn about people.
“It’s not easy because you are kind of cut adrift. That is a difficult journey, even for older players. They can experience injuries or getting released or disappointments later on in their career.
“It’s not easy to deal with sometimes. Even with some of the young lads here, they’ve had journeys where they’ve been at good clubs in England, and they’ve had to drop down levels.
“It is difficult, firstly with confidence. There’s no denying that takes a bit of a hit when you face disappointment and adversity. I feel like I can help players and share my experience. It’s something I really feel strongly about.”
Arter credits Eddie Howe, the now Newcastle United manager who oversaw Bournemouth’s rise through the divisions, for so much of the career he had.
“He was not the person or the manager he is now, but he really had a similar ambition to me in terms of wanting to get to the top,” Arter said of their first meeting in 2010.
“Even though Bournemouth were in [third-tier] League 1, I still had aspirations to get in the Premier League. I shared that with him in what was like an interview. I shared my goals, and his goals and dreams reflected that.
“It was a perfect match. He is someone that was really hard working and had a real passion to develop players. He is someone who shaped my career, who shaped my personality as a person, and someone I’m really grateful to have worked with.”
Arter acknowledges that when he told Howe he foresaw a future in the Premier League, he did not have it in mind that would be with Bournemouth.
But the club went on an unforeseen rise which now sees them sitting comfortably in the top half of England’s top flight.
“The philosophy at the club, particularly then, was for young players to do well and then they sell them to keep the club afloat,” Arter said.
“My ambition was always to get into the team and do well and ultimately get sold, but the club's journey and the club’s rise really matched me personally at the time.
“We rose from League 1 to the Premier League really quickly, so thankfully I didn’t have to leave. It was just an incredible journey.
“A small club like Bournemouth to get to the Premier League without huge finances is so rare. The chances of it happening again are slim, particularly with a group of players that had no Premier League experience.”
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The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
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Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
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Dirham Stretcher tips for having a baby in the UAE
Selma Abdelhamid, the group's moderator, offers her guide to guide the cost of having a young family:
• Buy second hand stuff
They grow so fast. Don't get a second hand car seat though, unless you 100 per cent know it's not expired and hasn't been in an accident.
• Get a health card and vaccinate your child for free at government health centres
Ms Ma says she discovered this after spending thousands on vaccinations at private clinics.
• Join mum and baby coffee mornings provided by clinics, babysitting companies or nurseries.
Before joining baby classes ask for a free trial session. This way you will know if it's for you or not. You'll be surprised how great some classes are and how bad others are.
• Once baby is ready for solids, cook at home
Take the food with you in reusable pouches or jars. You'll save a fortune and you'll know exactly what you're feeding your child.
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
