League One outfit Wycombe Wanderers have announced that Alfie Mawson has sadly retired from professional football at the age of 29 due to injury.
The central defender, who completed his LFE apprenticeship with Brentford, made his pro debut for Wycombe Wanderers in 2014 whilst on loan from the aforementioned West London side.
That loan spell at Adams Park kick-started Mawson’s career, a glittering one that saw him compete in each of the top six divisions in English football, from the National League South, all the way to the Premier League. He was also called up to the senior England squad whilst at Fulham.
His last professional appearance came in December, winning and keeping a clean sheet against Ipswich Town.
Speaking to Wycombe’s official website, Mawson said: “It might come as a shock to some people, but to me, it’s been coming for a while. After speaking to the specialists, to my family and to the gaffer, I’ve come to the difficult decision to retire. I had some time off around Christmas after feeling some pain in my knee and the pain hasn’t gone away. I went for a scan and unfortunately the damage was done.”
“It’s devastating, but it’s how life goes. I was nearly in this situation in the summer, and I’d fallen out of love with the game. I think if I’d retired then, I wouldn’t have wanted to even watch football again. But coming back here has made me fall back in love with it. It reminds me of when I was first here, being a kid and loving what I was doing. I’ve done what I wanted to achieve, and to go out with a win and a clean sheet in my last game was a nice way to end it.
“I will always be a Wycombe fan. I don’t want to just to say goodbye and leave, because I owe this club so much and I will miss the boys. Words can’t do this club justice and what the staff have built here is incredible. I want to stay amongst the boys and be a shoulder to lean on and offer advice and knowledge.
“I knew this day was going to come – it’s just sooner than I had hoped. But there’s a lot worse things going on in the world and that makes you realise that at the end of the day, it’s a job. I’ve loved it and it’s been a hell of a journey. I’ve dedicated my life to it and I’ll be forever grateful to the people that helped make that possible.”
