Sadly, falling victim to an injury at some point in your non-league career is inevitable. Some obviously more serious than others, and a lot of the time, pretty unavoidable.
You hear a lot of talk about players being on ‘contracts’ flying about in the non-league circle, though unless it’s the higher levels, contracts aren’t given out so freely. Money in non-league can be hard to come by, so clubs (especially at the lower levels) will not want to be paying players that aren’t available to play, whatever the reason. Some players also play for free – though they have a day job that still involves heavy use of their bodies, yet still they put it at risk every week for the love of the game.
For your average non-league footballer, getting injured can prove pretty costly, be it the finance he makes on the field, what he earns off it or slowing down that players progression to better things.
So what is it that makes us want come back stronger every time? What is it that makes us miss being at ball during our injured period? What is it that makes us want to ‘risk’ putting our bodies back through that same stress?
I doubt most would be able to give you a straightforward answer as everyone has their own individual reasons as to why they do it. Personally, mine would be that being on the pitch has always helped me get away from any problems that I may have at that time. And that’s not me running away from my problems, it’s more me having something to keep me at ease weekly whilst I still deal with life on a day to day basis.
Speaking from my own experience – serious injuries haven’t come often, though when they have its never at a good time (not that there ever is). Injuries have left me in some low places and have most definitely made me question whether I should continue with playing on numerous occasions.
When you sign for any club, the manager, coaching staff and anyone else that can will always make you feel like you’re a big part of the club. They’ll show you a lot of love, and might even go that extra mile if you need any help with things off the field – but the second you pick up an injury, or have an issue which could affect you playing, things can change, drastically.
I had been at a club where the manager would call me very often, to talk about things like my performances, tactics and generally to see if I am OK. Not once did I ask him to or expect this, but it was something I had slowly got used to as it seemed that was the type of manager he was. About a month passed and I got a hamstring injury which it was said I’d be out for just under 2 months. The first week (before he knew the extent of the injury) he contacted me often. The second week, it died down. By the third, I didn’t hear a thing, and it remained that way until I contacted him to say I feel like I could be close to getting back (Now let me make it clear – I was not asking for contact on a daily basis, not even weekly, but surely at some point you could take a second just to see if ‘your player’ is okay and for an update on the injury). Now during the time of me being injured, I had seen the club had signed 2 strikers, this was not something that worried me footballing wise because I believe in my ability, though I knew this particular club they had a strict budget and wasn’t around the corner for me. So this would be a problem. After him hesitantly agreeing I come back to training, he then suggested that I take a major pay cut, prove my fitness to him and ‘carry on from there’.
Being quiet young at the time, I didn’t take this well and left the club pretty abruptly. Thinking about it, had I been older at the time I would still have left, albeit in a much more professional manner.
Word of advice to the younger players – Don’t burn bridges. I have most definitely burnt a few bridges with managers in my time playing and it was never worth it. I probably spited myself more than anyone else. Just because you and that manager can’t come to an agreement at that time, it may not be the same the next time you come into contact. Circumstances always change and maintaining a good reputation with managers will always benefit you, even if you don’t see it. As much as players talk, managers do too – so if you’re known as a ‘bad apple’ by one manager, don’t be surprised when even managers that don’t know you personally, don’t have good things to say about you.
Other times being injured can affect you is when you cannot actually envision being back on the pitch, simply because the extent of the injury won’t allow you to do so. By me saying this, I mean those injuries when you are back and forth to the gym, doing the same repetitive strengthening exercises, on your own whilst all your fellow peers are getting excited about their next match day/night, all this whilst you feel like you’re at the same point with the injury as you was before. The mental strength required can be a lot at times, yet here we all are.
Going back to the title of this blog where I ask ‘Is it really worth it?’ – of course it is. And I’d go through it all again and I’d maybe do some things different if I could, but I can’t. So I’ll just write about it instead.
#MC9
#MC9 