Chelsea Defender Sam Hutchinson Retires At 21 Owing To Persistent Knee Injury
An official statement from Chelsea Football Club announced that defender Sam Hutchinson has retired from professional football at the age of 21 due to a persistent knee injury.
The defender was a home-grown player, something that Chelsea don’t have too much of. Hutchinson had been part of the Blues youth academy since the age of nine. He worked his way up and he was soon noticed, getting international call-ups to the Under-18 and Under-19 England squad. He received a call up for the Under-21s, but had to withdraw because of injury. For the club, he had only made four senior appearances.
The club statement read: “Sam Hutchinson has announced his retirement as a professional footballer. Unfortunately, the 21-year-old defender suffered a reoccurrence of the knee injury that affected his past three seasons and it is has been decided he will not recover sufficiently for the physical demands of a professional career.”
It went on to say, “Hutchinson will continue to be supported by Chelsea Football Club and will work in our academy while also studying sports science at university. He will later pursue coaching qualifications.”
Hutchinson was a former captain of the Blues reserve side and made his debut in 2007 as a substitute against Everton. That was the year he suffered his first knee injury. Then manager Jose Mourinho had big things planned for youngster, claiming that he was the future of Chelsea and it would only be a short while until the youngster was part of the first team.
After he had recovered from the first injury, he made two more appearances last season, one as a substitute in the Premier League and the other, a start in the 1-0 win over Queens Park Rangers in the Carling Cup. Unfortunately, that was his last appearance for the club as a player.
His knee injury plagued his career, keeping him sidelined for the larger part of it, but even during that short time, he made his mark on football. Though it eventually brought an untimely end to his career as a footballer, Hutchinson may still have a future in football.
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