Sad news from Lewes, where Danny Cullip has had to call it quits after failing to recover from a serious hamstring injury.

I have had to retire through injury. I can’t play to any standard. The hamstring is detached and won’t reattach itself. There is no surgery to sort it.

I have seen a specialist in London and exhausted every avenue possible. They have all come to the same conclusion.

Cullip was a shrewd Micky Adams signing in the summer of 1996. Picked up from Oxford for nothing, he was a promising young centre back, who slotted almost straight into the side. His first season at the Cottage was a golden one – the year Adams steered Fulham out of the Football League basement on no budget all at all. He scored his first goal in senior football in the 6-0 thumping of Darlington in January and quickly became a firm favourite with the Fulham fans.

It was something of a surprise when Ray Wilkins allowed Cullip to team up with Adams again at Brentford just six months after Mohamed Al Fayed’s millions had arrived in SW6. He’d featured in fits and starts under the new management and memorably popped up to head a last-minute winner against Burnley having replaced Paul Bracewell only ten minutes earlier.

Fulham received £75,000 – a pitiful return when you consider what Cullip went on to achieve, albeit largely in lower-league football. He became a legend at Brighton, where he was again managed by Adams, who picked up for £50,000 from his former side, making 237 appearances for the Seagulls in five years on the south coast and twice named as player of the year as he helped Albion win two promotions.

His commanding performances at the centre of defence earned Cullip a big money move to Sheffield United, where he announced his arrival with a goal in the Blades’ 3-1 humbling of Aston Villa. Things didn’t really work out for Danny at Bramall Lane and he had spells at Watford (on loan), Nottingham Forest, QPR and Gillingham before dropping into non-league football with Lewes.

Cullip will remain involved in the game. He’s currently doing his coaching badges alongside another member of Fulham’s promotion-winning side, Richard Carpenter.