AT 27 years old, Highlanders vice-captain Gabriel Nyoni reckons it’s time to start thinking about life after football as he does not want to fall into the category of players that “turn into paupers” upon retirement.
Global newspapers are awash with stories of once great players turning destitute after retiring from the beautiful game as a result of financial mismanagement at the peak of their careers.
As such the Bosso midfielder is venturing into the clothing business by establishing his very own label called “GN27”.
GN27 stands for Gabriel Nyoni as well as his jersey number at the Bulawayo giants — 27. He says he took careful consideration not to infringe on Highlanders’ trademarks and jersey sponsorship rights when coming up with the GN27 clothing label.
“I’m still contracted to Highlanders so whatever I do will always be associated with the club so I took careful consideration not to create a clothing label that will be seen as a direct competitor to the club.
“My label was inspired by Cristiano Ronaldo’s CR7 as I felt it’s time to venture into business because football is a short career that sometimes can even end prematurely as a result of injuries,” Nyoni told B-Metro Sport.
Bosso has given the player full backing on his latest business venture.
“Highlanders is a club that is concerned about the welfare and future of its players and the bosses have been very supportive of my clothing label,” he said.
Who is the man behind the designs for the GN27 clothing label?
“My best friend Godknows Mudhari creates the designs for the clothing label and its’ been a fruitful partnership as we both bring in different expertise to the business,” he added.
Nyoni holds a marketing degree from the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) and hopes to use put his education to good use by aggressively market the new clothing label.
He says as a start-up business, they are concentrating on creating brand visibility for GN27 clothing label.
