CHRIS Lumsdon will tonight watch two of his former teams meet at The Northern Echo Arena.

Formerly of Sunderland, Lumsdon will watch Carlisle and Darlington meet in a preseason friendly, days after announcing his retirement after a back injury.

“I’ll be in the Carlisle end for the Darlo game and I’ll love that,” he said. “Other than that, I think I need a break from football so I can fall in love with it again.

“I’m doing my coaching badges but I don’t want to be a manager. You’re on a hiding to nothing and I don’t want any more sleepless nights.

Coaching kids with disabilities – I’d like to get involved with something like that.

“I’ll play at a certain level, but no higher than the Northern League because of the training and travelling.”

After joining Darlington last summer following his release from Brunton Park, the 30-year-old made just three appearances after a being plagued by a chronic back problem.

Signed by Colin Todd, he spent most of his time at Quakers on the sidelines and this week was forced to call an end to his playing days.

“Last year I was told I would suffer in later life if I carried on. I couldn’t cough or sneeze without my back hurting.

I got fit again and I could probably still play, but I can’t train every day and nobody is going to offer me something when there are so many players on the market who would play for nothing.”

In July 2008, he first suffered back problems and since then he has struggled.

After a friendly at Partick Thistle, the midfielder recalled: “On the bus home I was lying on the floor, unable to move,” said Lumsdon, speaking told the News and Star. “And at home that night I was in so much pain that I rang my mam and dad at 4am.

“I couldn’t get down the stairs so they had to break into my house. Then the emergency doctor came, and he put the injection into the wrong side.

“Then it was a month of lying in bed all night and never sleeping. I had an injection that worked and got myself fit. Then I went to Darlington and it happened again.

“The surgeon told me it only happens twice to four per cent of people. Brilliant.

A bit of my disc had crumbled and gone into my sciatic nerve. They said it was the size of a 5p piece, which I thought didn’t sound too bad.

But apparently for this sort of thing, it is massive.

“I had the operation, came back on December 11, didn’t miss a training session until the end of the season but Steve Staunton wasn’t interested.

The club said I was on too much money, especially with them going down, so we came to an agreement. I signed the papers on Tuesday and that’s it.

“I’ve had 15 years playing football, stayed in the best hotels, played at the best grounds and got paid ridiculous money to do something I love. I’ll be alright. I’ve always said I don’t mind working.

This week I asked my mate if he had any labouring jobs going.”