Matt Bloomfield: Wycombe Wanderers midfielder retires after serious concussion

Matt Bloomfield (left) pictured alongside Adebayo Akinfenwa after winning promotion to the Championship with Wycombe in 2020 - his fourth promotion with the club

Wycombe Wanderers midfielder Matt Bloomfield has retired on medical grounds after the impact of a serious concussion.

The 38-year-old suffered a concussion after a free-kick hit him in the back of his head during the Chairboys' Carabao Cup win over Exeter in August.

Bloomfield made 558 Wycombe appearances after signing from Ipswich in 2003.

"I was desperate to keep playing, and I'm still not sure I have come to terms with it," he told the club website.

"However, I know that I have so much to be thankful for.

"I lived out a boyhood dream to represent Ipswich Town in my first professional appearance. I then lived out my other boyhood dream to captain a team to victory at Wembley Stadium. I couldn't have dreamt that the team I captained there would be the team that has become my club.

"I know that I can retire content, knowing that I definitely gave it everything I had."

Club captain for almost a decade, Bloomfield won three promotions with Wycombe from English football's fourth tier as well as captaining them to victory in the 2019-20 League One play-off final.

Now on the club's coaching staff, Wanderers say they will pay tribute to his career at their game against Plymouth Argyle on 15 April.

"It's a sad day, but also a proud one, to celebrate the playing career of one of the best, if not the best, professionals I have had the pleasure of working with throughout my time in football," manager and former team-mate Gareth Ainsworth said.

"Matt was my room-mate in my playing days, my captain in my management career, and now I'm honoured to have him by my side on the coaching staff for the next chapter.

"We could not have achieved everything that we have done without him, and above that, I wouldn't have wanted to have gone on this journey without him."