Nick Anderton says playing the game he's loved for the last 10 years has been an "absolute pleasure" after the Bristol Rovers defender has regrettably announced his retirement from professional football the day before his 27th birthday.
Anderton has been undergoing a course of chemotherapy since December having been diagnosed for osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, last July after he underwent a routine scan on what he thought was a leg injury.
In a statement posted on his Instagram and Twitter pages, the former Blackpool, Carlisle United, Accrington Stanley and Barrow defender has confirmed he’s been forced to retire from the game due to his illness and the subsequent treatment and operations he's required, having made 233 senior appearances since making his debut for Gateshead in 2014, while on loan from Preston North End.
