Former Arsenal wonderkid explains drastic career change to selling the club fertiliser

This former Arsenal star was once tipped for greatness by an iconic manager and in retirement he now sells his various lawn care products to the club

Former Arsenal midfielder Henri Lansbury has swapped the pitch for the turf business, now supplying lawn care products to his old club in retirement. The 35-year-old launched his venture, Grass Gains, during the coronavirus pandemic.

Lansbury came through the ranks with the Gunners, with Arsene Wenger once tipping the midfielder for a prominent role in the first team. However, following numerous loan spells and injury setbacks, he left to join Nottingham Forest in 2012.

His career subsequently took him to Aston Villa, Bristol City and finally Luton Town, where he hung up his boots in 2023. Since then, he has remained active in his post-playing life.

Whilst confined to his home during the 2020 lockdown, Lansbury turned his attention to gardening and identified a shortage in the market for organic fertilisers. Collaborating with two experienced groundsmen, he created a range of products now supplied to Arsenal, various other football clubs, and members of the public.

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"During lockdown, I was training at home. I had my mates come around, spray the grass for weeds and all that. But they were all toxic. A lot of it's been banned now," Lansbury said on In The Mixer, brought to you by Sky Bet.

"But obviously, you've got dogs and kids trying to go out there in lockdown. It was like, 'No, you can't go on it kids, you've gotta leave the grass 24, 48 hours.' My wife asked if there was anything organic. She was going through one of her phases.

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"I was like, 'Oh, I don't know, I'll ask one of the boys.' They came back saying there's nothing on the market and I was like, 'Can you make something?' After that we've found a product and it just took off.

"I thought, 'Everyone's got to have this for their garden.' From there it built up to every garden centre and we're just trying to build, build, build. Now I play golf, I'm going to speak to all the greenkeepers trying to plug them Grass Gains!

"It's basically a professional product that all the stadiums are using, but in the retail market. We do little orders into Arsenal now as well."

Lansbury has also discovered another hobby since hanging up his boots: lawn mowing. The 35-year-old, known on social media as The Lawn Lad, shares videos of his work, assisting clients with their gardens and maintaining the turf at football stadiums.

He added: "I first did it and just thought, 'Oh my God, this is unbelievable, cutting my grass.' It was the stripes to begin with and then I started doing patterns in it."

During his time at Luton, Lansbury celebrated a goal with a lawn-mower gesture that quickly became an internet sensation. He said: "I think that's kind of what set it off a bit.

"I scored, I think it was Hull away. Then I pulled the cord up and then did it. Everyone was like, 'What was that about?' I was like 'Oh, I'm the Lawn Lad.'"

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