Former Bristol City, Fulham and Swansea man devastated’ after retiring at 29

Former Bristol City defender Alfie Mawson has had to retire from professional football, after following advice following a persistent knee injury.

The 29-year-old joined League One outfit Wycombe Wanderers in August, dropping down a division after two appearances for Fulham in the Championship last season. He joined on a one-year deal, rejoining the club he had a successful loan spell with in 2015, but six months into his contract, he has had to retire.

Mawson made 21 appearances for the Chairboys this season, but has been out of action since mid-December, and two months on has decided to hang his boots up. He had considered retiring in the summer, but decided to prolong his career, as he did not want to fully end his association with the beautiful game.

“After speaking to the specialists, to my family and to the gaffer, I’ve come to the difficult decision to retire," said Mawson in a statement posted on his behalf on Wycombe Wanderers' official club website.

"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.

“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.”

During his 11-year playing career he went from playing in the National League South on loan with Maidenhead to playing in the Premier League with Swansea City and later Fulham. He earned the Swans a reported £20m, and was called up to the England squad for their friendlies against Netherlands and Italy in 2018, but he did not feature.

Mawson spent nearly the entirety of the 2020/21 season on loan at Ashton Gate, joining from Fulham, who had been promoted to the Premier League. He made 11 appearances for the Robins in that campaign, which was split between September and February, knee surgery put him out of action between October and December.