Shaun Barker bids farewell after showing playing is not everything

09 May 2018 11:30
The defender is retiring six years after his knee was smashed with Derby. He battled back at Burton, where his influence was far greater than his few substitute appearancesAt the end of the season a 35-year-old Burton Albion defender who has made only one appearance this season and five last retired. Those bare facts suggest it is not a particularly notable event but that Shaun Barker was able to make the decision himself is a near miracle of persistence, mental strength and managerial faith.Barker’s right knee was obliterated in a freak collision when he was captaining Derby County against Nottingham Forest in 2012. As he told the Guardian three years ago, the top and bottom halves of his leg were “pretty much held together by the skin alone”. Related: Shaun Barker: ‘The only thing that held my leg together was the skin’ Continue readingreadfullarticle

Source: TheGuardian