A former England footballer had his career infamously cut short by injury and was given a harrowing reality by a surgeon before calling it quits
Ledley King was told he’d be wheelchair-bound by his 30s if he didn’t retire early. Former Tottenham and England defender King called it quits in 2012 at the age of 31.
King is revered in one particular part of north London, having spent the entirety of his 13-year career with Spurs. In this time he also earned 21 caps for the Three Lions, a tally that could have been far greater were it not for persistent injury.
The 45-year-old suffered from knee problems for the majority of his career in the Premier League and just before he decided to hang up his boots, he was told he could end up in a wheelchair if he kept on playing.
“It was 2012 and funnily enough for the first part of the season I felt as good as I’d felt in a long time,” said King, speaking on In The Mixer, brought to you by Sky Bet.
“I was doing well. I’d played 11 or 12 games and not lost any. But I was training the day before a game and had a clash with a goalkeeper. My knee just blew up.
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“I was out for about three weeks and they ended up taking fluid out of my knee. They were taking loads out and we were set to play Manchester City.
“I really had no business playing but they took out all the fluid and I came back for that game. We were 2-0 down and brought it back to 2-2, but I gave away a penalty. That was the beginning of the end.
“I never felt the same after that injury. I played around 11 or 12 more games, played a total of 23 games that season. Normally when you finish you play three or four games. I played 23.
“But it was the quality. In the second half of the games I was playing, the quality was just not there. I couldn’t move. And for the first time, I didn’t enjoy football. I felt like I wasn’t helping my team.
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“So at the end of that season I sat down with my surgeon and he basically said, ‘You’re going to end up in a wheelchair in your 30s if you keep trying to push it.
“Judging by the way it felt and what he said I knew it was time. It was tough. It’s always tough when you retire, stop doing something, when you stop doing what you’re doing.
“I never really allowed myself to think about retirement because I was just constantly fighting to keep going. I never mentally prepared for it.
“I thought I was like RoboCop or something, just keep going, you know? ‘Keep going, keep going every year. Find a way to play.’ But it was tough.”
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