Wrexham star admits his parents talked him out of retiring from football amid injury nightmare that saw him become a 'forgotten man'

Rathbone joined Wrexham in 2024 and made 41 appearances last season as they won promotion to the Championship. In the summer, however, he was handed a bitter blow as he sustained a serious ankle injury, just months after being named the club's Player of the Season. Now, he has claimed that he was so heartbroken over his setback, he considered retiring for good, and was only talked out of the decision by his parents.

Rathbone referred to himself as a "forgotten man" after scoring a crucial goal off the bench against Watford in his first game back on December 13. He also scored Wrexham's winning goal against Preston on Monday night, and has now spoken out on LinkedIn after making his comeback, posting two pictures, one of him after his injury, and one after his first substitute appearance back.

He wrote: "There are 150 days between the two photos below. The picture on the left is me limping off the pitch in pre-season with a serious ankle injury. The picture on the right is me scoring a 90th-minute equaliser two minutes after coming on in my first league appearance of the season.

"The time in between has been by far the most difficult period of my career, getting back to full fitness, set back after set back and finding myself out the team. I hated the situation I found myself in, I felt sorry for myself, wallowed in self pity and moaned to anybody who would listen about how hard done by I had been."

He added on his parents' role in lifting him out of a dark period in his career: "I told my parents one afternoon how fed up I was and how I was close to completely sacking it off, they looked at me and said, 'Oliver that's not you and it's definitely not us.'

"They made me promise that no matter what I would stay positive, give my all and make sure I was ready for my chance when it came. The fact they were there to see that goal made it even more special, it only happened because of them."

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Rathbone has admitted that he felt a "million miles away" at times during his recovery, but has insisted that hard work is the answer for his comeback. 

He said: "I didn't think when I was getting player of the year on that pitch in May that my next minutes would be in December. So it's been really tough. I had the big injury in pre-season, so I missed all of pre-season. Then I had a couple of little niggles that have set me back even more so I felt a million miles away at times. But I've worked really hard and kept myself ultra professional and just got on with things. I've not kicked up a fuss and just worked really hard and backed myself."

He added: "I think you need to have resilience and I think when you get to this point in your career you have to have that to play as many games as I have. The support of my family has been incredible because it has been really, really difficult. I won't downplay it, it's been a really tough period for me and I felt like the forgotten man at times. But hopefully I can kick on from here. All I want is to feel like a part of this team and to try and help us be successful."

Wrexham are currently 11th in the Championship after Rathbone's winner against Preston, and are just four points behind Watford in sixth, the final play-off spot for promotion to the Premier League. 

Speaking after the win, manager Phil Parkinson said: "I'm very pleased. I felt it was important that we backed up the Boxing Day win and performance and we spoke to the lads about that mentality.

"Tonight was about if we could respond to a really good performance where we had a lot of praise against Sheffield United and have that accountability individually and collectively. I felt we did that really well."