5 footballers who retired before the age of 30 

#2 Fabrice Muamba

Muamba returned to show his appreciation for the fans

Fabrice Muamba was a youth product of Arsenal. He spent two years in the first team in English capital but failed to make a first-team appearance. He later went on to play for Birmingham City and his most successful spell was at Bolton where he spent four years.

However, it was in March 2012, in an FA Cup tie against Tottenham, that left the entire football universe in shock. Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the pitch. He received treatment on the pitch itself for a substantial period of time. Then, he was rushed to a specialist coronary care unit.

It was later revealed that the Bolton midfielder's heart had stopped running for a significant 78 minutes. His progress at the hospital was not very responsive and his condition was described as critical. But after a few days, there were signs of improvement and his overall progress also started to become better.

He was admitted to the hospital for nearly a month following his cardiac arrest. Later, he returned to his club's home game against Tottenham to thank the fans for their support and in return received a standing ovation.

In August 2012, Muamba announced his retirement from football at the age of just 24 based on the advice of his medical team.