Ex-Wexford skipper Graeme Molloy bows out as knee operation looms

Former Wexford captain Graeme Molloy has been forced to retire from inter-county football due to a knee injury.

Molloy, who sat out last year’s Allianz League campaign with the complaint, said he may be facing a knee-replacement operation.

He said: “I will not be lining out for my county again. I visited the surgeons last week. They told me there is nothing more they can do. I’ve no cartilage left in the knee, it’s simply bone on bone. “I knew coming towards the end of the season the day was coming.

“The season now is so long, playing inter-county and then playing both football and hurling for my club.

“I suppose I always held out hope but the pain was becoming more severe. There’s no way the knee could hold up to the intense training to compete at the top level of football. I would have been unable to do the necessary training. With that in mind there’s no way forward for me, for without the necessary preparation I was not going to be able to play at this level. So it would not have been fair just to hang on from game to game.

“I informed David (Power) of the surgeons’ prognosis last week. I told him I was retiring from inter-county but perhaps I may be able to get in another year with the club. I just don’t know. I will rest the knee now, but rest is not going to cure it.”

Molloy added: “I will possibly be facing a knee replacement.”