Former Blues midfielder Luke Hyam has announced his retirement from professional football due to a back injury.
The 29-year-old Ipswich-born midfielder came through the academy ranks at Playford Road and made 118 starts and 28 sub appearances for the Blues, scoring three times.
The former Northgate High School pupil, a Town supporter when growing up, made his senior debut in the 3-1 win at Middlesbrough on the opening day of the 2010/11 season having impressed then-manager Roy Keane in pre-season.
Hyam, who spent a short spell on loan at Rotherham during 2015, making two starts and three sub appearances, was a regular in the Town side which reached the play-offs in 2014/15
He was released in the summer of 2018 when he joined Southend but his two years at Roots Hall were disrupted by injury and he made only 18 starts and 10 sub appearances, scoring once before departing last summer.
"It's heartbreaking,” Hyam said when speaking to The Preview, the club’s new matchday feature. "The decision was kind of taken out of my own hands. I picked up a back injury about a year and a half ago and it just deteriorated over time.
"It was at the back end of my first year at Southend. It's unfortunate but you can't dwell on the past, you've got to look into the future.
"You always think it's going to happen one day, that you're going to retire from football. Unfortunately for me, it's happened earlier than most.
"At the same time, I'm very privileged to not only play professional football but to play for my boyhood club. It was always a dream of mine from a young age so be able to fulfil that, I can't complain.
"Everyone is going to have regrets in life and, of course, I'd love to have been able to play football longer. I'd have loved to have played for Ipswich longer. You've got to look at the positives in life.
"I managed to play for the team I supported as a young boy, the team that all my friends and family still support now. I feel like that's a really good achievement.”
Hyam, who had some tough times with injuries at Town as well as with the Shrimpers, is currently completing a personal training course and plans to use his experiences to help others, stressing the importance of mental as well as physical health.
He added: "If I can get into a better physical state and finish off my qualification, I'd love to do that in the near future. I'd love to bring other people into it and help them get the benefits that I got from exercise.
"I've had mental health problems in the past, I'm a massive advocate of it. I'd want to help people who are struggling, especially with all of the uncertainty around at the moment. I'd like to just help as many people as possible.
"Like any player, if you're not playing football it's a dark place. When you have injuries on top of it, it is hard. You need to get people to talk about it and speak about it more.
"Opening up with people can make you feel better. I'd love to be able to raise people's awareness and say 'it's OK not to be OK.'
"Being a local lad, I just want to help people and raise awareness. I'd like to help with anything I can around the local community.
"Community is a massive part for me. I love the town and I have all of my friends and family here so I want to stay here forever."