Loy on the road back to recovery
Rory Loy spoke honestly and candidly with the local press two weeks ago shortly after he made his first appearance in the Cumberland Cup against Penrith Rangers following an 11-month lay-off due to a broken leg.
In this extract from his fascinating interview with Andy Hall [United Player], James Phillips [BBC Radio Cumbria] and Jon Colman [News & Star] he talks about what he described as the mental torture of being injured.
"For one reason or another it’s probably been the hardest year of my life," he said.
"I’ve had nothing to complain about up until this point, but it’s been a very tough year for me for a couple of different reasons.
"The injury was a massive part of that. Going into the gym every day is not easy when you’ve got everything on your mind, especially with the type of person that I am because I over-think things sometimes and let things get on top of me.
"But you’ve just got to keep your eyes on the prize at all times and keep working hard. You’ve got to believe that you’re going to get back to where you were before it happened and kick on.
"There were large spells when I was injured when I was the only person in the treatment room, and that’s tough. In the last couple of weeks of the injury spell I had Lee Miller coming in and he’s a lively character. He’s also a good mate so it made it slightly easier.
"But it’s the side of football people don’t see. Everybody wants to be a footballer because it’s great, but it can be mental torture at times, and people don’t see that side of things because they just watch the game on a Saturday.
"The hours are really good but people don’t see the boys who are injured and who just want to be out there helping the team. It’s an unbelievably horrible feeling not to be part of it.
"It’s been a hard year and it’s definitely made me stronger. It makes you appreciate different things that you take for granted, such as training or going in the gym to make yourself stronger to prevent injuries.
"These are the sort of things you take for granted if this type of thing doesn’t happen to you. It’s easy to say you just need to get on with it ... but believe me that's not the case. It's been such a long time that it obviously gets inside your head.
"I think my expectations about when I was going to be back were too soon at the start, because I was setting myself deadlines that weren’t realistic. When you have a rough time in your head and you don’t make it for whatever reason, well that just makes it so much harder.
"If I had said to myself right at the start that it was going to be a year, then I could have got my head around that and it would probably have been a lot easier.
"The good thing is that I am now training well and it's just a case of getting fit now. There is a definite light at the end of the tunnel and I'm just looking forward to hopefully moving on and earning my place in the team again."
United Player subscribers can see a three-part video interview with Rory Loy on United Player now. To access the videos and to find out more about United Player, click HERE.
