The player who sacrificed his career for Aston Villa

“I’ve damaged my body indefinitely.”
As Aston Villa resume their bid to reach Wembley with Friday’s fifth round tie against Cardiff City, the comments of a former captain made under the arch continue the jar.
James Chester had just been part of the celebrations as Villa sealed a promotion to the Premier League when he told reporters the extent of his sacrifice.
He had played through injury for three months to avoid derailing a promotion bid. By the time Villa reached the 2019 play-off final to beat Derby County, the Wales defender was in a tracksuit having succumbed to a persistent knee problem.
For Villa, the six years since have seen the club go from strength to strength; from Championship to Champions League and hopes of a first FA Cup win since 1957.
For Chester, there were only a hundred or so further games, the majority in the lower tiers. No more Wales caps to add to his 35 that included all games in the run to the Euro 2016 semi-finals. No more reaching the levels he knew he had been capable of as a central defender of calmness and quiet toughness.
But, after the repercussions of that decision finally led to the retirement that came a few weeks ago, no regrets either.
Ex-Villa and Hull defender Chester announces retirement
Published
13 February
“It’s made the last five or six years tough,” 36-year-old Chester says. “It’s been difficult at times when some of the performances I produced were almost alien to what I was what I was used to.
“But when I go back to Aston Villa, it’s the first topic conversation that the fans speak to me about: how grateful they are of the decision I made to continue playing.
“To see where the club are now, it’s almost a justification for the decision I made.”
The club then was in a very different place. Chester had joined Villa in the second tier in the summer of 2016. It took a while for the club to shake off frustrations and financial concerns.
Chester was almost sold to help pay bills, but he stayed on to help the team, a key man for a side containing the emerging Jack Grealish as they found their feet under Dean Smith having lost the 2018 play-off final to Fulham.
“We played Derby in the November and as soon as I got in the car my knee was aching,” recalls Chester. He met up with Wales and played 50 minutes of their Nations League tie with Denmark. Unbeknown to him, it would be his final international appearance.
The soreness had been there a while. First a scan suggested fluid before it became apparent his cartilage was deteriorating. Every run, every bend, would aggravate the issue.
With Villa short of centre-backs, Chester opted to play on – at least until the January transfer window – despite the increasing pain, despite the risks, and despite eventually getting to a point it was miserable being on the pitch.
But, having been safely navigated through to the window, Chester had done his job. His final game of the season was an agonising one against Ipswich. Tyrone Mings arrived on loan from Bournemouth five days later. The injured captain lifted the play-off trophy in a tracksuit alongside Grealish.
And yet Chester is not from Birmingham, not a boyhood Villa fan – though he says they are “his club” now – and had seen his old manager at Hull, Steve Bruce, sacked.