FOREST Green Rovers defender Eddie Oshodi has opened up on his shock decision to turn his back on a promising career in professional football and leave the sport – at the age of just 23!

The defender’s decision has come after the death of a friend ‘from unnatural causes’ in London that caused ‘an awakening’.

Forest Green manager Ady Pennock told of his ‘surprise’ that Oshodi, whose birthday was only last month, wanted to quit a sport that is every schoolboy’s dream in order to work in the charity sector back in his native London to help ‘young children in deprived areas to dream big’.

His contract was cancelled at The New Lawn by mutual consent, and Pennock said the club would ‘miss him’ but Oshodi says he feels his new charity was a greater calling.

Oshodi said: “It was a huge decision because all my friends and family know me for loving the game so much. They asked me ‘why don’t you take it upon yourself to make this decision by a different way’? But I said I have to do it for me to achieve what I want to achieve in my life.”

He told BBC Radio Five: “I feel as if there is a lack of opportunity in the English game right now. I love the game dearly but there are other things that are more important that I need spending time on doing.

“It takes a lot of hard work and drive and determination to make it as a professional football player and, of course, when you call it a day, you look back and ask was my time wasted? I certainly don’t think my time was wasted and there are a lot of things that football has taught me.

“It has taught me discipline, team-work, drive, focus, trust in myself, trust in others so I look back with no resentment.”

But he could not hold back on his belief in helping others outside the sport and explained: “I have started a charity – the Alex Stevens Foundation – because a friend of mine died in the summer of unnatural causes and it was like an awakening.

“It has pushed me to help the communities of London. It will be specifically for young children in deprived areas to dream big and want to be something in life where they don’t have the opportunities or facilities to express themselves.

“We want to create a platform for these kids to play football with others from down the street, side-by-side on the pitch together.”

He leaves as one of only seven defenders to have played over a hundred Football Conference games for Forest Green.

Pennock said: "I’d like to thank Eddie for all his efforts at Forest Green. It was a surprise decision for him to leave. The club and the fans will miss him, but we also respect his decision.

“Eddie always had a smile on his face and was a really nice lad. We wish him the very best in the future."

Oshodi arrived at The New Lawn as a 19-year-old in October 2011 after coming through Watford's youth system under the tutelage of former Forest Green manager David Hockaday, and made two appearances for the Hornets senior team in the Championship and League Cup.

He made his debut for Rovers in a goal-less away draw to Fleetwood Town, who went onto win the Conference title that year, and played a total of 127 times for the club in all competitions, scoring six times.