A look back at an article from January 2002 when former Hereford United defender Gareth Davies decided to quit football.
GARETH Davies, the Swindon Town defender once of Hereford United, has
quit football at the age of twenty eight after struggling with injuries
for three years.
A persistant knee injury has dogged Davies' career at the County Ground and he said that he didn't want his eight month old son having a dad in a wheelchair.
He told the Swindon Evening Advertiser: "I love football but I’m not going to cripple myself just for the sake of playing on a bit longer. My knee swelled up in training last week. When I got home, I looked at my little boy Rhys and decided there were some things more important than football. I didn’t want him growing up with daddy in a wheelchair. But I don’t want people to feel sorry for me. I have had 10 years as a professional footballer and I don’t regret a minute of it."
"I want to thank physio Dick Mackey and the club doctor Alan Davies as well as Andy King, Roy Evans and all the coaching staff (at Swindon)," he continued. "The supporters have also been good to me and I will miss the club. But I want to walk and to play football in the garden with my little boy. He made my mind up once and for all."
Davies intends to coach youngsters as he studies for his UEFA B badge and commented: "I’d love to be a youth team manager somewhere but I know such opportunities are scarce. But I have always enjoyed coaching with kids and I feel I’ve a lot to offer. But at the moment it probably hasn’t quite sunk in. However, I know now that I have to get on with life in the ‘real’ world. My wife said it’s an exciting new chapter in my life and that’s the way to look at it."
Current Swindon boss Andy King said: "I feel desperately sorry for the boy. I have friends in the game who are in terrible pain because of injuries they received while playing and I can only respect Gareth’s decision. We all wish him well."
Gareth Davies was a youth team player at Edgar Street having spent his childhood in Talgarth, Powys. He made the first team before joining Crystal Palace for £120,000 in 1995.