By Phil McNulty BBC Sport Online chief football writer

Chris Coleman's departure from football comes at a poignant time for the talented Wales and Fulham defender.

Coleman has been forced into retirement after sustaining horrific injuries to his right leg in a car crash in January last year.

He has fought a courageous battle, not just in an attempt to return to full health but also to try and rebuild his football career.

And there will be sadness for all who have played and managed Coleman throughout his career that he has finally had to quit the game.

Former Wales assistant manager Mark Bowen described Coleman's injuries as "a savage blow" to the country's footballing ambitions.

And it is a situation rich in irony that a player who battled his way through the bad times with Wales will not be involved as they undergo a major resurgence under Mark Hughes.

He is also quitting with Fulham showing the early signs of mounting a Premiership revival of their own under Jean Tigana after a struggle against relegation last season.

Coleman won 32 caps for Wales, establishing himself as a youngster at Swansea, and impressed with his ability to play at left-back and in central defence.

He joined Fulham from Blackburn for �2.1m in November 1997 and emerged as a key figure in their rise from the Second Division to the Premiership.

Coleman also had a spell at Crystal Palace, and was helping Fulham establish themselves as a force making their way back to the Premiership when the accident occured.

He was badly injured when his Jaguar car crashed through a wall and collided with a tree in Bletchingley, Surrey.

Coleman sustained a fracture of the right tibia and fibula and a fracture of the right ankle, for which he needed major surgery to re-align and repair.

He always faced a huge struggle to return, but approached the challenge with determination.

But it was a fight he was destined to lose.

Coleman would have played a key role in Wales' European Championship challenge, but will now have to watch from the sidelines as a new era begins.