24-year-old shares why he has retired – less than three months since Spurs wanted him

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Reported Tottenham target Ted Smith has instead decided to retire.

Goalkeeper Ted Smith has told The Telegraph that he has retired at the age of just 24 due to the pressure of the game.

Smith came up through the Southend ranks, and made his first-team debut for the club at just 19 having been touted for a big future.

An England international at Under-18, Under-19 and Under-20 levels, Smith looked destined for a bright career, but it hasn’t quite worked out for him.

After just 30 first-team games for Southend, Smith was released last summer, and he went on trial with Tottenham Hotspur in an attempt to win a big move.

Interestingly, Southend wanted to re-sign Smith in February according to The Echo, but Tottenham were again interested in handing Smith a deal.

No move to Spurs materialised, and Smith has now taken the surprise decision to retire, less than three months since those Tottenham rumours resurfaced.

Smith has admitted that whilst he loves training, the pressure of matchday was just too much for him, as was the criticism he would receive on social media.

The goalkeeper noted that he hopes to help others realise that playing isn’t always worth the pressure involved, and now seems relieved to have backed away from the game for his own well-being.

“It wasn’t me. It wasn’t what I enjoyed,” said Smith. “I love the game and the training side of it but when it came to matchday pressures, it was always a bit too much for me. It was a long-time coming but I’m getting my head around it. In your head you’re telling people that you’re giving up a job that is everyone’s dream. I suppose that is the hard bit. After a game I’d go back and look on social media straight away and see what people were saying. For 90 per cent of the time there was nothing but if there were two or three comments after a bad game, I’d hold onto it if I got criticised. It would affect me during the week. Instead of looking at the positives, the negatives would niggle at me.”

“You should enjoy games. It wasn’t for want of trying. I tried so hard to go into a game enjoying it but couldn’t. I tried everything. I built up that fear of playing a game for so long. I just can’t switch that off. I saw a sports psychologist. Deep down if I had a match I wouldn’t be excited. It would be the initial thought of dread and then it ingrained in me that I couldn’t get my head around it. There might be other people in this situation. I don’t know how many. I hope what I say can help other people realise there is more to life than putting yourself through the stresses of a football game,” he added.