Murray a loss to England - Wolves

Matt Murray, who was forced to retire at the age of 29 due to injury, could have been one of "England's all-time greats", according to Wolves. Murray suffered a number of serious injuries throughout his career, the last of which was a ruptured patella tendon in 2008. He announced his retirement last week.His last appearance in a Wolves shirt came in November 2009, when he was substituted for the reserves after feeling pain in his knee.Paying tribute to Murray, Wolves' chief executive Jez Moxey said: "Mick (McCarthy) went on record saying that he thought he could be not only England's number one, but one of England's all-time greats, and that's a view we share."People forget that (him) missing the full Premier League season after we got promoted was a massive blow and was one of the reasons we got relegated."Had he been between the sticks who knows what would have happened."Murray, who represented England at Under-21 level, said that although the decision was a difficult one it has relieved the burden on his shoulders.He said: "I always believed and dreamed that I'd get back and play at Molineux again but, when I broke down for the last time and could just feel my knee starting to swell up and feel sore, I knew it was the right decision."When you finish training, and get out of of the car, and your little girls come running and shouting 'Daddy's back!', but you're struggling to walk because you're in so much pain, you start to think that there's more to life than football."Now my body's going to get as much time as it wants to heal."There won't be the pressure and embarrassment of going out and people asking if you're still injured."Everyone now knows that it's not meant to be and that I've retired."I won't have to put my body though the pain and intensity of the work, and I'm looking to the future now."But Murray admits that given the choice, he would trade his future well being for more time at the top.He said: "If someone said to me that I was going to get another 10 years of playing but you're going to have problems after that then I'd probably take that."If you're a professional athlete you realise that your body has to take its knocks. But when you're 29, not playing, and your body's feeling like it was just to train for an hour then it's not worth it."I've given my all to get back and worked really, really hard, but this was just one bridge too far. It wasn't meant to be."Murray plans to take his coaching badges, or study for a sports science degree, with the hope that he can remain at Wolves in a non-playing role.He said: "I'd definitely love to stay involved in football, and if that could be with Wolves then that would be perfect."I see this as my club, I've been here since I was nine and made so many great friends."

Source: Team_Talk