SAM HUTCHINSON: An Inspiration.

Credit to Sam Hutchinson. Last August after persistent knee problems he was forced to retire from the game. It was a major blow for the 21 year old as he was being groomed to become a first team regular and had made a couple of telling appearances in the side.

Faced with a life very different to what he wanted to do, Hutchinson was offered a role within the club as mentor to the academy recruits while he studied for a degree in psychology.

As time passed the pain in his knee disappeared and after a period of time, Hutchinson to his credit, determined to resume his playing career persuaded the club to show them he could play again.

Chelsea's Academy director Neil Bath is quoted in the Daily Mail speaking of Sam Hutchinson and his journey and he said:

‘We have had to manage the situation very carefully because it was Sam’s decision to retire. In August 2010 he was at the pain threshold and his knee couldn’t take any more.

The club looked after him because it was an emotional time for him and his family. At 21, with a place in the first team within touching distance, his career was over.

He did some coaching, but the trick was to get him away from the training ground to clear his head. He went swimming, played tennis and golf, just to do something else.

The article goes onto state the following about the injury he had to deal with:

"The results were startling, the pain gradually subsiding behind the patella that had been causing him trouble since the age of 12. He had problems with both knees during adolescence, struggling with the load from his 6ft frame when he started to make strides towards the first team.

The enamel behind his patella began to wear away, a degenerative condition that could not be solved speedily. It is not an unusual injury, but with four training sessions and two matches a week, Hutchinson had no recovery time.

He did not receive an insurance payout when he was forced out of the game and he is now uninsurable because of his injury. He plays at his own risk but such is his desire that he carries on.

Sam Hutchinson has made his return this season to the reserves and once again skippered the Chelsea reserve side last night against Aston Villa and played the full 90 minutes. It's an amazing story and is a unique one especially in modern day football and highlights the players desire to revive his career knowing that any further injury could prove all so costly. He knows full well he cannot be insured to play football but that doesn't deter him from realising his dream of first team football.

Just last week we saw the situation with Carlos Tevez refusing to come off the bench to play in the biggest club competition in the world, the Champions League because "he wasn't in the right place!".

Someone like Tevez could learn alot from Sam Hutchinson. Forced to retire from the game, who realised he still had a chance to forge a career he always wanted and has worked hard to get back into the game.

You ask Sam Hutchinson just how much he wants to play football, how much the game means to him and how much a career means to him. Playing every game with massive risk, Hutchinson is still just as determined.

I really honestly hope he makes it. Sam Hutchinson is an inspiration.

KTBFFH

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