Chris Armstrong slutar
Årets spelare från säsongen 2008/9 slutar med fotbollen
I måndags meddelade Chris Armstrong, 28 år, att han slutar med fotbollen. Han var borta hela förra säsongen på grund av skadeproblem och under den här säsongen har han bara gjort sex matcher från start och ett inhopp. Nu visar det sig dock att det inte bara är ett skadeproblem utan i december 2009 diagnosticerades Chris med MS eller multipel skleros. Man valde då att hålla det inom familjen och bara några få personer inom klubben visste hur det låg till. Tyvärr är det inte längre möjligt att fortsätta med fotbollen och i måndags meddelades först lagkamraterna innan man gick ut på hemsidan och förklarade bakgrunden till Chris beslut.
Han säger bland annat följande: "Obviously this has been a very difficult decision, I absolutely love football but this is the right thing for me to do now. It's right for me professionally, medically and also personally. I've been very fortunate to play for Reading and all my other clubs, I've been lucky to have a career that I know many people would be delighted to experience. I'll miss being a part of the game on a daily basis. At Reading I've worked with some fantastic people, and I'd like to thank the manager and all the staff, especially the medical team for helping me so much to get back playing, at one point I didn't think that would be possible. I'd also like to thank the lads in the dressing room and of course the supporters; I'll never, ever, forget when they voted me player of the season. We've got a great squad here and I'll always be looking out for Reading's results and would have loved to have been involved in helping to push for promotion back to the Premier League."
McDermott pratade länge efter matchen mot Ipswich om Chris: "Football is his life, he loves football, it's so sad. As a group we talked about him and at some point we need to have a fitting tribute for him because as a person I can just not speak highly enough of him. I want him to have his applause from the home fans and we will do that when it's right for Chris.He's never looked for anything, the only thing he was concerned about when I was going to tell the players was the fact the team were playing a number of games and he didn't want to affect that. He talked about Ipswich and Man City and I said that's irrelevant. The most important thing is Chris and I genuinely mean that. It's all about Chrissy Armstrong. He's such a top, top person."
Ordförande Madejaski: "Chris has been both incredibly brave and exceptionally determined, and I'd like to put on record just how much respect myself and everyone at the club has for him. He deserves great credit for his endeavours, and also for working so hard in a private, professional manner. I know that everyone at the club pulled together for him during a difficult time, rightly keeping everything confidential so as to help Chris in every possible way. Great tribute must go to Chris and we wish him every success for the future, he will always be a part of our club."
Chris Armstrong har förutom Reading även representerat Bury, Oldham och Sheffield United.
readingfc.co.uk
