Norwich City academy player Jayden St Paul retires from football

Jayden St Paul has retired after his body was unable to recover from a knee injury sustained in April 2022

A professional footballer has told of the mental toll his time on the sidelines took in the hope it would help to break a "dog-eat-dog" culture in the sport.

Jayden St Paul, 20, announced he would be leaving Norwich City FC on Monday.

He said a knee injury had plagued him for almost two years before he made the "tragic" decision to hang up his boots.

"The scariest thing throughout this process was admitting I wasn't OK," Jayden, from Uxbridge, London, said.

The goalkeeper, who played for the Canaries' academy side, had signed a year-long extension to his contract - despite his injury - due to the promise he had shown.

Jayden had captained Norwich City's academy side and shown huge promise

He had been sidelined after twisting his knee during a training session in April 2022.

"I was on the floor in pain and they called the physio over. They tried to move my leg and the pain I felt made me realise how serious it was," he said.

The 20-year-old, who represented Trinidad and Tobago's national side at an under-20 level, said he began to struggle mentally when his life was consumed by studying for his A-levels and undertaking rehabilitation for his injury.

After almost two years of setbacks, he decided he faced no alternative but to call time on his promising career.

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"That was a tough pill to swallow, I was a bit scared," Jayden, who had once been on the books of Chelsea, Arsenal and QPR, said.

"Football has been my life since I was four or five years old. I wasn't hanging round on the street, it was school, football - nothing else.

"When I signed my professional contract everyone looked at me like 'woah' - and you have a certain respect among your peers.

"Now I'm thinking people will look at me and think: 'What happened to you? You used to be a pro, you used to be that guy'."

The 20-year-old had signed a one-year extension to his contract at the club in summer 2023

'It's a dog-eat-dog world'

Jayden said he wanted to use his story as a way of inspiring other athletes battling injuries to find the courage to speak out about their struggle.

"You want to put on a brave face, especially in the football culture," he said.

"It's a dog-eat-dog world every day. You're being judged and you don't want to give them something else to judge you about.

"I want to be an advocate for speaking out when you need help, because that's the bravest thing you can do."