Former Morton ace Conor Pepper fighting back to fitness after doctors told him to quit football
The ex-Inverness youngster remembers leaving the hospital in tears thinking his career was over — and he’s under no illusions the road back to fitness will be a long one
FORMER Morton midfielder Conor Pepper admits he has struggled to come to terms with the thought that he may never play football again.
Pepper was released by Ton at the end of last season after undergoing several surgeries in a bid to save his career.
A nasty knee injury has kept him out since February 2016 and the 23-year-old was told by doctors that it may be better for his health if he was to hang up his boots.
At such a young age the prospect of doing so is a bitter pill to swallow for the former Inverness kid.
Pepper remembers his worst moments, when leaving the hospital in tears thinking his career was over — and he’s under no illusions the road back to fitness will be a long one.
He said: “I was at the point where I needed to have another operation, it had to be done. I’d have had to retire otherwise.
“They told me I was going to have to quit, so for a while I actually thought that was going to be me finished.
“But I went to a specialist in England who said he has done this type of surgery before — and he’s good at it.
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“Mentally it’s going to be tough, the last few years have been really tough on me.
"I’ve had operations already and a number of setbacks.
“I fully admit it’s going to be hard, always wondering, ‘Is it going to happen again?’
“For a while I didn’t know if I was ever going to be able to play again because there’s damage to the back of my kneecap which is never going to be fixed.
"I’d come out of Ross Hall one night and I just started bawling my eyes out because I thought I was finished.
“I was living away from home and I hadn’t played football since I was 21 years old.
"I’m 23 now. I was over in Scotland doing absolutely nothing except getting bad news constantly.
"It was a lot to take in, but it’s now last-chance saloon for me.
“I’m still young, so to come through this I’d still hope to have a lengthy career — I’d hope so anyway.
"I’ve got no other choice, really.”
‘Out of sight, out of mind’ is the phrase that most often springs to Pepper’s mind.
Having played a huge part in Ton’s 2014-15 League One winning campaign, the player found it difficult to then be so far out of the loop through no fault of his own.
The popular Irishman struggled adjusting to watching his team-mates from the sidelines, becoming disillusioned with the game he loved.
He said: “The Morton boys would wind me up but for a while I felt miles away and sometimes I couldn’t even watch training.
"I was sick at this point, really, not knowing what I was going to do. I was nervous, upset, angry.
“But there was nothing I could do about it, which was the worst thing.”
Pepper’s anger and frustration has subsided enough to allow him to work towards his Uefa coaching license.
Rubbing shoulders with some big names in football, Pepper has been starstruck with some of the ex-pros he’s alongside.
He added: “You should see some of the names that are here — Stiliyan Petrov is here, Alex Bruce from Wigan, Lewis McGugan from Sheffield Wednesday, Jerome Thomas and Phil Bardsley — the list goes on.
"I’m the youngest by a good bit and I’m enjoying it.”