Murray knew career was over on stretcher at Stadium MK

Lying on a stretcher at Stadium MK was the worst moment of goalkeeper Matt Murray’s career as it effectively signalled the end of his playing days.

Now a popular television pundit, the 43-year-old had to hang up his boots and gloves in 2010 after struggling to recover from a knee injury he suffered while on loan with Hereford United.

No stranger to injuries during his cut-short career, Murray, who was on loan at Hereford United in 2008 from Wolverhampton Wanderers with whom he had made 100 appearances, knew something was different when he went down during the game at MK1.

“I’d had lots of injuries before, but when I was lying on a stretcher at MK Dons away while I was on loan to Hereford, it felt like that was the worst one ever,” Murray told Wolves’ official website. “My ex-wife was pregnant with our second child, my landlord who I’d known for so many years had just suffered a stroke and my nan was in hospital about to pass away – it was the maddest time of my life.

“I had every emotion going through my head. I went to see the specialist and they said, ‘You’ve got two kids now, you’re 29 years of age, you’ve had two operations, you’ve had all the injections – if you want to be able to walk around and have a life with your kids, I recommend you call it a day’.

“Although I knew it was coming, when I got told I cried, and I cried, because my career was over and I was scared. But I also cried because it was just a relief that I hadn’t quit, someone told me I needed to stop, and it was a relief that I didn’t have to go through it again.”