A true trailblazer - Alex Williams opens up on 45 years at Man City ahead of retirement

It was a cold night near Stoke that made Alex Williams realise he had had enough. The former Manchester City goalkeeper was trying to recover from a back injury at Port Vale, but after accepting that he would never be fit enough to play at the highest level again he decided to end his professional career at just 25.

"I was about 80 per cent fit, playing a game at Port Vale one night that was hail, sleet, and snow," he told the Manchester Evening News. "The stadium held about 45,000 people of which there was only about 5,000 there and I looked round the stadium and thought 'what am i doing here?!' I went in to see the gaffer John Rudge the next morning and said that was it.

"I felt three things. I was cheating my club teammates at Port Vale, I was cheating the fans and most importantly of all I was cheating myself.

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"With all due respect to some footballers who drop down the leagues, I didn't even play non-league because if I couldn't play at the top I couldn't play at all. I didn't want some non-league player giving me verbals saying how did you end up playing football, you're crap? I didn't want to lower myself to that so I decided to quit."

For such a short career, Williams achieved more than many do with a longer spell. He was part of the last England squad to win the Under-21 European Championships and was voted the best in his position in the Second Division by the players as he helped City back into the First Division in 1985.

His breakthrough in the team in 1982 coincided with a difficult season that ended with relegation after a home defeat to Luton Town, and while the keeper does not shoulder the blame for going down he uses his form in