Paul Sholabi - From the physio room

“Im looking at 9-12 months on the sideline but I’m determined to come back fitter and better than ever”

Back in January 2022, Central’s Paul Sholabi heard the 3 letters every athlete dreads to hear from a doctor… ACL. Paul was shielding the ball from an opposition player before falling awkwardly and feeling a pain in his knee.

“At first I didn’t really think much of it. Football’s a contact sport and you get little knocks every week. It was only when I tried to get up that I realised something wasn’t right and it was more serious.”

After a trip to the hospital Paul was told that he had torn his anterior cruciate ligament. Widely regarded as one of the most devastating injuries in football, ACL tears usually require a long road of surgery, rehab and physio before a player can even think about returning action, but Shalboli is determined that this injury won’t define him.

“Obviously I’m gutted to not be able to play football but I just have to trust the process. The doctors have given me a physiotherapy plan and I’ve been told swimming and cycling can help to boost my recovery so I’m getting as much of those done as I can. There hasn’t been a date set for my surgery yet but in my head I’m working towards a timeline of 9-12 months until I can get back on the pitch and I’m determined to be fitter, faster and better than ever.”

Although Paul is looking ahead to getting back as soon as possible, he admits the road to recovery is going to be challenge mentally as well as physically.

“I just love playing football. Seeing the boys out there playing, it’s tough to watch because you just want to be involved so badly, every week that goes by I want to be back out there but equally I know that the worst thing I could do is try and come back too soon and risk doing some permanent damage.”

Despite the disappointment of having to watch on from the sidelines, Sholabi has been impressed with his teammates performances and is confident in Central’s ability to make the top 5 in the league.

“There’s a lot of quality in this side. We work together well as a unit and I’m confident the boys can get promotion secured. It would be such a great reward for all the hard work everyone has put in and something personally to look forward to knowing that, once I’ve got my recovery and rehab sorted, I’ll be coming back into a higher division, somewhere I can really challenge and prove myself.”.