Former Wolves star on long road back
Former Wolves defender Mark Clyde had so much to play for before he had the rug cruelly swept out from under him two-and-a-half years ago.
A three-cap Northern Ireland international with Premier League experience for his first and only club, Clyde even started the first three games of current boss Mick McCarthy's reign at the start of the 2006/07 season.
But by February 8 of that fateful campaign, the Limavady-born star was forced to retire aged just 24.
His last game came in the famed gold and back shirt against Preston at Molineux.
On Wednesday, he made a playing return to the West Midlands - in front of 187 fans at Stafford Rangers.
The now 26-year-old has joined non-league Worcester, after the two were put in touch by the Clyde's close friend and City player Graham Hill.
He has not come back for money, fame or plaudits.
The former top-flight centre-half just wants to play football again.
He said: "It had been three years since I played a proper match before this summer, that was my second friendly. The Worcester manager had been on at me for a long while to come to the club, but I wanted a complete break from football.
"But you know what they say - once a footballer, always a footballer. I just want to play and enjoy it."
All Clyde has now is memories from a career cruelly cut short, after becoming a star graduate from the Wolves academy to make his debut aged 19 in October 2002.
He partnered future England international Joleon Lescott that night at Stoke, and was keeping skipper Paul Butler out of the side before the season was out.
Nine games in the club's Premier League season earned him a new four-year deal in the summer of 2004, but that was when his injury problems simply got worse.
He only played 16 more games in four years - three of those in his final season - and missed 2005/06 completely.
Clyde has vivid memories of what he has been through.
He said: "It's all in the past, all that is left now from that time is the injury. There was times when I felt that my leg was going to burst. I was on tablets for 18 months and eventually decided I didn't want to take them for the rest of my life.
"I was eventually diagnosed with a form of arthritis in the knee, which cannot be cured. There was not a lot I could do about it.
"I spent the best part of two years trying to get back to where I was and I just couldn't do it. Every time I got close, the injury came back again. In the end, I would train for a day and then be in traction for at least a couple of days afterwards.
"When the inevitable came, I had already resigned myself to the fact that it was over."
Clyde refutes the suggestion that he is only allowed to play semi-professional football under the terms of an insurance policy pay-out.
He now has his own landscaping company in Bridgnorth paying the bills but harbours no hope of a full-time return, anyway.
He said: "I never had an insurance policy, but I would never play professionally again anyway. Deep down, I know that my knee would never stand up to it."
The former Northern Ireland international still speaks to Matt Murray, who has spent the last two years in his own injury hell with a selection of knee problems.
But where Clyde's injury problems beat him, he has backed his former goalkeeper to succeed.
He said: "If anybody can come back from a career-threatening injury, it is big Matty. He would probably be the best guy in the world to keep himself going, how he does it is beyond me.
"I reached the point where I couldn't see the light at the end of my tunnel, but Matt is the sort of character not to let it beat him."