Henri Lansbury, once a promising figure in Arsenal’s ranks, has surprised fans and colleagues alike by announcing his retirement from football at the tender age of 32.

The former wonderkid is hanging up his boots for a completely different venture, diving into the world of gardening.

• Henri Lansbury, the former Arsenal player, announces retirement from football to start a new career in gardening.
• Lansbury’s new venture, Grass Gains, started during the lockdown and now works on Champions League pitches.
• After sustaining an injury, Lansbury barely played last season, leaving the club at the end of his contract.

Henri Lansbury announces his unexpected departure from football

Henri Lansbury, a once exciting product of Arsenal’s youth system, has opted for an unexpected career turn.

The ex-Arsenal man, who was tipped for significant success, has announced his retirement from football, surprising many within the sporting world.

Now at the age of 32, Lansbury plans to swap the football pitch for a garden, revealing a new-found passion for horticulture.

An innovative venture born out of lockdown boredom

The pivot in career trajectory comes after Lansbury initiated his gardening venture, ‘Grass Gains‘, during the first lockdown.

In a recent interview with talkSPORT, Lansbury shared how he developed an interest in gardening.

The need for non-toxic fertilisers for his own garden led to the formation of the business.

“It came about during the first lockdown when I was stuck at home and got into gardening,” he said.

“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.”

Grass Gains, making strides in the world of sports

The gardening endeavour has already had its brush with footballing venues.

“We’ve done Fulham, we’ve done Genk, and we’re in at Monaco soon,” Lansbury added.

The former footballer has ambitions to serve local clubs with his product, offering them lush, striped pitches.

“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.”

Former Arsenal groundsman, Mark Pettit, who worked at both Highbury and The Emirates, is also a director of the company.

A promising career cut short by injury

Lansbury’s time on the football pitch was cut short due to an injury, which saw him play just 54 minutes in the league for Luton since the end of October.

As a result, he left Kenilworth Road when his contract expired earlier this summer.

Before this unfortunate turn of events, Lansbury had built a decent career, having played for Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, and Bristol City, besides his stint with Arsenal, where he made eight appearances for the first team, scoring one goal (in the League Cup against Tottenham).

He also earned him 17 caps for England at under-21 level, scoring five.

As the next chapter unfolds for Henri Lansbury, the football world watches with keen interest, welcoming a gardener who once was a celebrated footballer.

His innovative venture, ‘Grass Gains’, promises to leave an indelible mark on football pitches across the country and perhaps even beyond.