Injury forces Adam to call it a Day

Sidley United midfielder Adam Day has retired from the senior game at the age of just 33 because of a persistent Achilles injury.

He said: “I’m absolutely gutted, but I can’t keep going on like this - you’ve got to draw the line somewhere. I’ve probably been playing some of my better football to a degree which only makes it worse.”

The injury, which is a form of tendonitis, actually started off as a calf problem well over a year ago and has never gone away. Day is waiting to see a specialist about the problem, which flares up after exercise, and expects to undergo surgery.

Comfortable on the ball and possessing a lovely left foot, Day made his men’s debut as a 15-year-old alongside dad Dickie (now Sidley chairman) in a Sidley reserve team game and his first Sussex County League appearance for the club followed just a year later.

He spent a season with the now defunct St Leonards in the old Dr Martens League, around half a campaign under Dean White at Hastings Town (now United), and played the odd game for Lewes and Bexhill United - the latter at the start of this season.

But other than that Day has spent his entire career at Sidley, winning the Sussex Division Two and Division Two Challenge Cup double in 1998-99, and the Division One and John O’Hara League Cup double in 2000-01 under his dad’s management, plus promotion back to Division One last term.

The full article will appear in Friday’s Bexhill Observer.