Southampton academy graduate, Sam McQueen has announced his retirement from professional Football aged 26. He was forced into early retirement due to a ligament injury he incurred back in 2018 while on loan at Middlesbrough.
The versatile English players career came to an unfortunate ending. He battled his cruciate ligament rupture for more than 3 years before finally making a decision to retire. He struggled to recover and had to undergo several surgeries due to recurring infections.
Sam continued to work on his fitness and attempted to make a comeback in the first team, but it was quite an uphill task to recover from such an injury. The player thought it was the right time to retire following the end of his contract with Southampton.
Sam McQueen’s time as a Southampton player
Sam McQueen joined the Saints when he was only 8 years old and came through their youth academy to make 29 appearances for the first team. He spent most of his playing time as a left-back. But he was occasionally deployed as a left-sided midfielder.
The 26-year-old also spent time on loan at Southend United, where his performances won him a spot in the England U21 side. He then signed with Middlesbrough in 2018 and only managed to play 7 games before incurring his career-ending injury.
McQueen was an up and coming player in his time as a Southampton youth player. He appeared 58 times for the Saints in Premier League 2, scoring 15 goals and setting up 7.
The Englishman had an inspiring start to his career. One could only imagine what he would have achieved on the pitch if he had more time.
Here is what McQueen had to say about his retirement via the Southampton FC website.
This has been such an incredibly tough decision to make as I so desperately want to play football again, but I have to do what is right for me and for my family.
The amount of time I’ve had not on my feet and not running has caused my body to de-condition to such a level that now, when I try to join in any parts of training, I continually get muscle tears in certain areas and my knee’s not able to cope, so I was advised I wouldn’t be able to play football for much longer if I did manage to get back fit.
I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on my time at the club. I’m very proud of the things I’ve achieved here. I’m sad there wasn’t more, but later in life I’ll be able to look back on the memories I have.
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