STEVE SIDWELL broke down in tears when he found out his career was over due to a horror injury.
The 41-year-old played for Brentford, Reading, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Fulham, Stoke and Brighton.
He hung up his boots in 2018 due to a severe back injury that left him unable to do basic tasks around the house.
Sidwell opened up on his struggles on That Peter Crouch Podcast, saying: “In the last year of my contract I was injured at Brighton.
“I had spinal surgery in September, I rushed rehab and the injury reoccurred.
“My family life was really difficult. My back was that bad I couldn’t get my little girl out of her cot and I couldn’t play football in the garden.
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“I was waking up in the morning and I was shuffling to the toilet, squatting in front of the sink because I couldn’t bend over.
“I remember the missus looked at me and said: ‘You can’t keep doing this, look at the state of you.’
“I decided to have a second spinal surgery and the surgeon said to me: ‘I can get you back playing but for the next ten to twenty years of your life you need to look at your health.’
“I remember breaking down and crying to the missus in our en suite.
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“That’s it, that’s me done. I said that and I felt a big weight off my shoulders.
“I then had to let the medical team know, see that season out, then I was preparing for retirement.”
Sidwell was desperate to keep busy after quitting football as he was so used to the strict routine of being a Premier League star.
He went on to coach in Brighton’s academy and take up a role as a club ambassador.
The ex-midfielder now works as a pundit on TNT Sports.
Sidwell also has a lucrative side hustle as a company director of a business that kits out office spaces.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
