Alfie Mawson: Wycombe's former Swansea & Fulham defender retires aged 29 because of knee problems
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Alfie Mawson's six Premier League goals for Swansea included the winner in a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in January 2018
Wycombe Wanderers defender Alfie Mawson has retired from football at the age of 29 because of knee problems.
The centre-half has played almost 300 senior games and cost Fulham a reported £20m when joining from Swansea in 2018.
He enjoyed his first spell of league football on loan at Wycombe in 2014-15 and returned to Adams Park last summer, playing 21 games this season.
However, Mawson has not featured since a 1-0 win over Ipswich on 17 December after his knee problems resurfaced.
"It might come as a shock to some people, but to me, it's been coming for a while," Mawson told Wycombe's website., external
"After speaking to the specialists, to my family and to the gaffer, I've come to the difficult decision to retire.
"I had some time off around Christmas after feeling some pain in my knee and the pain hasn't gone away. I went for a scan and unfortunately the damage was done.
"It's devastating, but it's how life goes. I've done what I wanted to achieve, and to go out with a win and a clean sheet in my last game was a nice way to end it."
Mawson, who began his career at Brentford, left for Barnsley in 2015 and joined Swansea for £5m a year later, earning an England squad call-up in 2018, although he never made an international appearance.
He played 65 Premier League games in two seasons with the Swans, scoring six goals, and was an ever-present during their 2017-18 top-flight campaign.
But after his big-money move to Fulham, Mawson made only 46 appearances overall across four seasons plagued by injury and several knee operations.
"We always knew in those early days he had the ability and the character to be able to play at the highest level, and he worked so hard to achieve his dream," said Chairboys boss Gareth Ainsworth, who has been in charge for both of Mawson's spells at the club.
"He is living proof that hard work, determination and dedication will help you succeed, and that's such a brilliant legacy for him to leave in the game."
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