Stonebridge retires hurt

By Charlie Henderson

I don't think the fact I'm no longer a footballer who plays football every day will sink in until July when I'm not doing pre-season Ian Stonebridge

Veteran Wycombe striker Tommy Mooney is in the throes of talking through a new contract.

And recent events at Adams Park have made the 35-year-old appreciate how lucky he is to still be playing the game he loves.

Injury has forced his fellow Wanderers forward Ian Stonebridge into premature retirement at the age of just 25.

And it is proof that nice guys do not always come out on top - especially in the fickle world of football.

'Stoney' is one of the nice guys and managers Leroy Rosenior and Paul Lambert have both been complimentary about their charge, despite injury-hit times at Torquay and Wycombe in the last 18 months.

Mooney is effusive in his praise.

"He's a great lad and an excellent talent who is as good as I've played with on the training ground," Mooney told BBC Sport.

"He struggled to take it into matches because of niggling injuries and difficulty in getting a run in the team, but technically he's an exceptional footballer."

Make that former footballer.

"It's a wrench as football's been my livelihood for a good few years now but I've got to have my future health in mind and on the advice of my specialist I had to take the decision to retire," Stonebridge told BBC Sport.

The health issue is a condition of the joints called reactive arthropathy.

It is easy to see how a career in football can impact upon susceptible joints, leaving them stiff and sore.

But the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back came in the less competitive surroundings of Stonebridge's own home.

Thus, a career that started on a Youth Training Scheme at Tottenham and then took in Plymouth, Wycombe and Torquay ended on his sofa.

STONEBRIDGE FACTFILE Plymouth - July 1999-July 2004 - 201 apps, 45 goals Wycombe - July 2004-March 2007 - 88 apps, 8 goals Torquay (loan) - November 2005-December 2005 - 6 apps, 1 goal

"It's a condition of the joints that can cause them to swell to the point where walking is uncomfortable," Stonebridge explained.

"It can be brought on by something as little as a common cold infection or some kind of trauma to another part of the body.

"And the more trauma I put my legs through playing and training every day, the worse the condition becomes.

"It has affected me five or six times through the season and each time it happened I'd have treatment, it would settle down and I'd resume training.

"But each time it happened the longer it would go on and the worse it became for my joints.

"The final straw came in January when I was at home going about my daily business and my right knee became swollen and stiff.

"On the previous occasions it came when I was playing football, but this came out of nowhere.

"So the first precaution I've taken is to stop putting my body through the rigours of professional football and we're hoping by taking that out of the equation it will help me lead a pretty normal life for years to come."

And a very different one - life after football.

It is a bewildering change but one Mooney is confident Stonebridge will easily adapt to.

"Stoney's a bright lad and the flip side of it being so early on in his football career is he can go on and make a career out of whatever field he chooses to go into," he reasoned.

But what?

Coaching badges are high on Stonebridge's agenda - as is doing a degree.

It's all very well having some good GCSEs but they're not much use when you're trying to get a job Ian Stonebridge

"Obviously I wasn't planning on having to use my qualifications outside football so soon," reflected Stonebridge.

"I was hoping to have a few years to work towards a degree which would be finished by the time I ended playing, so it's a spanner in the works in that respect.

"But the PFA offers grants for educational courses which I've taken advantage of so far and hopefully will continue to do so in the future."

The PFA has been a source of advice in changing times, but maybe the hardest moments are yet to come.

"I don't think the fact I'm no longer a footballer who plays every day will sink in until July when I'm not doing pre-season," Stonebridge added.

"The day-in day-out training is what you do, it's when you interact with your colleagues and that's what I'll miss most.

"In recent weeks I've been able to go in and see everyone while I've been liaising with the medical staff and there has not been a great change to the fact I'm not playing football.

"But time moves on, I'm moving down to Plymouth with my partner who is expecting and I'll find myself doing other things, and I'm sure that's when it will start to sink in properly."

And what will he reflect on in his premature dotage?

He says the best things were being given his education at Spurs, where he cleaned Les Ferdinand's boots, and leaving the club.

"It did not feel like it at the time, but I was released by them and went on trial at Plymouth where I did enough to earn a contract," he explains.

"Then because of an injury at the start of the next season I was thrown in at the deep end in the first team as a 17-year-old and everything started from there."

Little did he know it would end so soon.