Report: Newcastle defender takes up director role at hometown club as 'perfect preparation' for retirement

Fabian Schar is one of Newcastle United's most important players right now but that hasn't stopped the 31-year-old Swiss international thinking about his future after retirement.

So many professional footballers hang their boots up and don't really know what to do afterwards, some disappear into obscurity, others try the management game while some go into media. You get the odd one who tries it all without really landing on a speciality.

It seems Fabian Schar isn't waiting around to make his decision by getting an early jump on things.

That's Mister Schar to you!

FC Wil have today announced that the Magpies' centre-back has joined their new-look board of directors via Basel Jetzt.

Philipp Schmidli via Keystone

Schar was born in Wil and wanted to give something back to the town he came from.

"FC Wil 1900 is my childhood, youth and lifeblood club, The fact that I can now help shape the strategic paths of the club is a perfect preparation for life after my football career."

The big question is what will Schar end up doing when he hangs up his boots?

Quite what the role will entail and how involved he will be given his commitment to Newcastle United remains to be seen, as does his plan for when he stops playing.

Being on the board of directors at a football club opens Schar up to a world of possibilities, perhaps he's going to follow in the footsteps of Dan Ashworth and become a director of football slash shaper of minds. Maybe he wants to be Switzerland's Ryan Reynolds and become a celebrity owner. Who knows?

We hope there are still a few more years we can squeeze out of Schar at Newcastle as he's been in the best form of his career lately and doesn't show any signs of slowing down just yet.