LEDLEY KING has revealed he was told he would end up in a wheelchair if he kept his injury-plagued career going.
The former England and Tottenham star, 45, was beset with knee problems throughout his 13 year in professional football.
He would often play without ever training for Spurs but eventually hung up his boots for good following a doctor’s chilling warning in 2012.
King said: “It was a tough decision because it was 2012 and for the first half of the season, I’d felt as good as I’d felt in a long time.
“It was strange – I felt like I was doing well and we hadn’t lost any games that I’d played in.
“I was feeling so good that in fact I was training a day before the games, but I had a clash with a goalkeeper, and my knee just blew up.
“I ended up playing 23 games that season, but the second half of the season the quality wasn’t there so for the first time I wasn’t enjoying my football, and I felt that I wasn’t helping the team.
“At the end of that season, I sat down with my surgeon, and he basically said that I’m going to end up in a wheelchair if I kept on playing. So, I knew it was time.”
King went to Euro 2004 and the 2010 World Cup despite his injuries, which was a testament to his talent.
The one-club star made a startling claim about the motivation of some of his team-mates in that first tournament when speaking on Sky Bet’s In The Mixer podcast.
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He said: “I had a mixed experience (playing for England).
“I remember going to the 2004 tournament. There were players that lacked motivation in the squad, because they didn’t believe that they were ever going to play.
“I was shocked by that. I don’t want to say that they’d almost given up, but it was almost like they knew whatever they did, they wouldn’t play.
“I didn’t believe in that – I played in the first game against France, I did well, but then I didn’t play in the second game.
“That told me that the shirt isn’t yours to lose – there was a hierarchy in the camp – and that makes it difficult.”