October 9 2001

Crystal Palace

Former Crystal Palace player Darren Pitcher is making a comeback into the non-league game after losing a £1m compensation claim for an injury which ended his career.

The midfielder hopes to restart his career with Essex Senior League side Ilford, after battling back from a knee injury sustained in a tackle with Huddersfield's Paul Reid, playing for Palace in 1996.

The season after that, Pitcher, 30, had to retire from football and in July had claims for £1m damages against Reid rejected by the High Court.

Now he hopes to continue playing and will look forward to a game between his two former clubs Charlton and Palace in a benefit match for him.

He started his career with Charlton and went on to play more than 200 times for the Addicks, before joining Palace in 1994 for £700,000. He played 82 times for the Eagles, where he picked up his injury in a game away to Huddersfield at the beginning of the 1996/7 season.

He told the Non-League Paper: "Everything has been based on hoping I was going to win the case. But it didn't happen, so now I have to move on. I'm just trying to stay fit by playing for Ilford and also looking at my options.

"I spent all my career in football and I feel I still have a lot to give to the game, but it all depends on my fitness and stability of my knee.

"Ilford will hopefully be a new start for me and I hope I can play consecutive games rather than playing, then having to miss the next because my knee is sore.

"If a coaching job comes along or even some work in the community, then I have to be reasonably fit and that was one of the reasons I signed."