Ex Premier League star and Championship record-breaker opens up on 'scary' cancer diagnosis

Former Premier League star Bobby Convey took to social media over the weekend to share details about a 'scary' and 'exhausting' battle with cancer.

The 41-year-old is a former USA international and spent five years playing for Reading in the UK between 2005 and 2009. The ex winger was a key part of the Royals' side that achieved promotion to the Premier League in 2006, managing a Championship record tally of 106 points.

Convey would go on to make 29 top-flight appearances across two seasons, helping Reading to an impressive eighth-place finish in 2007. The American then returned to his home country to play for San Jose Earthquakes before stints at Toronto FC and New York Red Bulls. He retired in 2014.

Writing on Facebook last weekend, Convey shared a series of images from the MUSC Health Ashley River Tower in Charleston, South Carolina. He wrote: "Colon cancer is a silent killer. Finally getting to go home this morning and recover. It’s been a long five weeks finding out in a random colonoscopy that I had 60 precancerous polyps growing in my colon. Scary stuff.

"My only option was to remove my large intestines and lymph nodes. It’s one of the most painful things I have ever done. Doctor said if I came at normal screening time of 45 [years old] I would have had cancer all over my body. Such a wild ride and exhausting. Thank you for your love and support Danella Baldwin and everyone else who has reached out. God is good….Everyone make sure to get those screening younger as I got lucky."

The post prompted an outpouring of love and support from football fans online. One Reading fan wrote: "That's horrendous. You were a legend for our 106 team. Get well soon Bobby."

Another said: "How awful to read this news. He was the most underrated player in the 106 season. Wishing Bobby Convey a swift recovery. Once a legend always a legend. Up the ‘Ding!"

Convey has been candid when sharing his health battles in the past. In 2017, the former footballer was taken to hospital following a severe asthma attack. Then, he opened up about the 'extremely depressing' time that followed his forced retirement with two surgeries and four hospitalisations after hanging up his boots due to asthma.