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Overseas footballers who moved to clubs in this country were living in a bubble, often feeling lonely, isolated and unhappy in their new community, new research showed today.
A study of professional players in four English divisions, including the Premiership, also found that foreign footballers' wives had problems settling in the UK.
Occupational psychologists said the players were highly protected by their clubs so faced barriers from mixing with people or socialising in the evenings and weekends.
Overseas players in the higher divisions were more "insular", which was not healthy for their well-being, said Professor Susan Cartwright of Manchester Business School, who supervised the research.
The players often trained for only a few hours a day so had lots of free time on their hands, but were lonely, according to the research.
"They are leading an isolated life because they are so protected by their club," Prof Cartwright said at the British Psychological Society's occupational psychology conference in Glasgow.
"If the player brought his wife or partner with him it helped him, but the partner suffered. Some clubs even chose the house where the players live.
"The players are not learning about the culture of where they are living, so they are living an artificial life. It's a sad story."
Prof Cartwright said football clubs should do more to help overseas players and their partners settle in the UK.
Some players suffered a "big culture shock" by moving to the UK, often within days of playing for their last club.
One American footballer playing in the UK said: "The line of work we're in doesn't allow us to go out and make new friends.
"When you finish training you think, wow, what am I going to do now? Have a nap, that takes two hours, then what?"
A French player said: "When you leave training after two o'clock and go home, what do you do? The day is dead. You can't really go out, you must rest and you have nobody to go out with anyway."
The research was based on interviews with 15 footballers.
Copyright Press Association 2006
