Ex-Walsall captain Michael Dobson on why retirement was a "weight off my shoulders"
In 2007, former Walsall captain Michael Dobson lifted the League Two title at the end of his first season.
The picture, which hangs proudly on the reception wall inside Bescot still serves as a beautiful reminder, whenever he revisits his old stomping ground.
Within 12 months though, Dobson was forced to hang up his boots at the age of just 27.
The pain had become too much, but the ex-midfielder actually felt a relief when he was told his time was up.
Retirement was a 'weight off my shoulders'
"It might have been a shortened career, but in those nine years I've won something and done something that a lot of players wouldn't have done," Dobson reflected.
"Unfortunately, pain took over in that second season and I suppose the thought of knowing realistically when the end of that season come along, the question was can I do another year?
"As much as I was fighting and crying to do it, it was kind of taken out of my hands when I saw a specialist and they told me: 'No, you're down, that's it.
