FA Cup: From depression after serious injury at Chelsea to still playing at 37

Sam Hutchinson played under both Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea, set up a goal for Frank Lampard, and was in Munich on the historic night they won the Champions League for the first time in 2012.

His time at Chelsea, however, was "filled with regret and what might have been" after a chronic knee injury so nearly ended his career before it had properly started.

A product of Chelsea's youth system, Hutchinson was a promising defender on the fringes of the first team before being diagnosed with a chondral defect (a hole in his right knee) after suffering a serious injury during a reserve game at Aston Villa.

Having joined Chelsea as a seven-year-old, made his first-team debut at 17 under Mourinho and captained England at Under-19s level, Hutchinson took the gut-wrenching decision to retire at the age of 21 in 2010 after struggling to recover.

A period of depression followed for the young player, who had been identified by Mourinho as a bright prospect.

"I had already played for the first team and Mourinho had said some encouraging things about me in interviews," he says.

"Then the injury happened and everything fell apart. I was just a kid.

"After I retired I was in a bad place with dark thoughts."

Hutchinson sought help for his depression.

"Unless you get help, you never know how bad you are," he tells BBC Sport.

"Even telling this story, it's like therapy.

"It's like the old saying - a problem shared is a problem halved. That's true about mental health. If you're suffering in silence, it's not going to help."

After receiving treatment at the Priory, and with his damaged knee finally fixed, Hutchinson came out of retirement in December 2011 to re-sign for Chelsea.

More injuries followed but despite being limited to six senior Chelsea appearances, he has gone on to have a fulfilling career.

Hutchinson played 200-plus games in the Championship, most notably for Sheffield Wednesday, where fans remember him fondly.

In addition to overseas spells in the Netherlands with Vitesse Arnhem and in Cyprus with Pafos, he has also turned out for Nottingham Forest, Reading and AFC Wimbledon.

Sixteen years after fearing his career was over for good, the father-of-three is still playing the game he loves at the age of 37.

This summer Hutchinson signed a two-year contract with non-league Farnham Town - after surviving a major health scare.

Monday, 26 May 2025. A date etched in the memories of AFC Wimbledon fans after their side won promotion to League One by beating Walsall at Wembley in the play-off final.

It was Hutchinson's winner at Grimsby three weeks earlier that ensured the Dons made the play-offs.

He did not know it at the time but the defender-turned-midfielder would not start another game for 11 months after scoring at Blundell Park.

"Throughout the first half my chest was getting increasingly tighter and I was in so much pain," recalls Hutchinson about that game at Grimsby.

"I felt dizzy and my hands started sweating.

"I was rapidly going downhill but then our centre-back won a great header, the keeper tipped it on to the bar, and it dropped down to me to tap over the line."

While AFC Wimbledon's travelling fans celebrated the goal wildly, Hutchinson felt so unwell his only thoughts were finishing the game and making it home to his wife and three children.

It would be several days, however, before he returned to the family home in Ascot.

On the journey back to London, his condition deteriorated to such an extent that a decision was taken to divert the team coach to a hospital in Nottingham so he could receive treatment.

After tests Hutchinson was quickly transferred to a nearby cardiac unit.

"I was put me in the back of an ambulance and I remember hearing the blues and twos," he recalls.

"My blood levels had spiked so much, I was in a really bad way. A couple of the paramedics knew who I was because I had played for Nottingham Forest a few years earlier.

"They said: 'You can thank us later for saving your life.' I was told I'd had a heart attack."

Hutchinson spent the next five days in hospital and had successful heart surgery.

"A branch of an artery was blocked 75%. I had an angiogram , external and had a stent put in by a specialist. The one thing that the professor - who had looked after both Tom Lockyer and Christian Eriksen – said was my situation was nothing like theirs.

"It was a blockage and it was all fixed, there was no need for a defibrillator to be fitted."

John Terry, his former Chelsea team-mate, was among those to reach out to Hutchinson during his recovery, while the player was well enough to visit Wembley to watch AFC Wimbledon win promotion.

A month later the Dons announced he had signed a one-year contract extension after being given the all-clear to train again.

However, Hutchinson was limited to just a handful of appearances in 2025-26 and in May - 12 months after that game at Grimsby - it was announced he would be leaving at the age of 36.

"Sam played a pivotal role in getting us over the line, not only with that iconic goal at Grimsby but his performances leading up to that," said an AFC Wimbledon statement , external announcing his departue.

Some may have decided it was the perfect time to retire from playing after what he had been through.

'I need heart surgery when I stop playing'

It's the opening day of the National League South season and Surrey-based Farnham Town are at home to AFC Totton in their first ever game in the sixth tier of English football.

Three years ago, Farnham struggled to attract crowds of 400 playing in the ninth-tier Combined Counties League.

But three straight promotions, , external together with Hutchinson's arrival in the summer, have caused a stir in the historic market town and there are 1,178 at the 2,200-capacity Memorial Ground to witness his debut, which ends in a 1-0 defeat.

Hutchinson has since gone on to help the part-timers win four of their first eight games and on Saturday will line up for Farnham at Cirencester Town in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup (15:00 BST).

"I'm loving it," he says about playing non-league 19 years after Mourinho sent him on for his Chelsea debut in the 89th minute against Everton on the final day of the 2006-07 Premier League season.

"Part-time football suits me after all that I've been through with my health.

"I have to go back every six months for tests and I have been told I will need further heart surgery when I finally stop playing football.

"But the specialists are happy for me to carry on for now."

It is 16 years since Hutchinson set up a goal for Lampard in Chelsea's 7-0 demolition of Stoke City at Stamford Bridge in 2010; 14 years since he flew to Munich with Roberto di Matteo's squad for the 2012 Champions League final at the Allianz Stadium.

He did not play when the Blues overcame German giants Bayern Munich on penalties to be crowned champions of Europe.

Nevertheless, he was regarded as a valued member of the squad and was invited to the trophy parade that followed.

Despite mixed emotions about his time at Chelsea due to injury, Hutchinson has not forgotten how the club looked after him.

"They brought me up and gave me values," he says. "I look back at the club fondly and what they did for me. I do bits of work now for Chelsea TV."

Hutchinson has also done work to support the British Heart Foundation and raised awareness about mental health.

"I'm in a different place," he says. "I do have regrets [because of the injury] but I have also lived a life that has been good.

"There are many players who have gone through a lot worse than me."