Jones: I was at the biggest club in the world

Phil Jones announced his retirement from professional summer after suffering with cruel injuries for the last four seasons of his career. While he managed to come back briefly, playing in United’s game against Wolves which saw him receive a fantastic welcome from the crowd, he knew his playing days were over.

In an interview with The Athletic, Jones reflected on the surgery he had in the summer of 2020, thinking this would fix him, but was ultimately left devastated by the knowledge he had to hang up his boots.

I was so happy to get the surgery because I thought: ‘Right, this is putting it to bed’,” he says. “When I got back on the grass and started to pass the ball again, I thought: ‘This hasn’t worked’. People will say you have to play with a little pain, but this wasn’t just a little bit of pain. This was pain that probably needed a couple of injections to play. Towards the end of my career, it was a bit like that.

You’re at Man United, the biggest club in the world. I just loved playing football like a little kid. When you have something taken away from you, it’s difficult to deal with.

To get onto the pitch — honestly, it gives me goosebumps now — was the biggest achievement because I was down and out. I’d had four or five knee operations. In the changing room afterwards, everyone was high-fiving, even though we lost the game 1-0. As soon as I came off the pitch, I sat there and knew that was probably one of the last games, or my last season. Towards the end of my career, I knew, in my head, I could still play. But I just couldn’t. My head was having a constant battle with my heart.

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