Pain Just Above Knee (Footballing Injury)

I play a couple hours of indoor football (soccer) a week on a small indoor court. The sport is harder and faster than normal football due to the speed of the game and the amount of twisting and turning.
5 weeks ago, a couple of hours after the game I felt the onset of a pain just above my knee on the inside (Top right if you are facing the knee). This pain is enough to give me great difficulty walking.

The exact location of the pain appears to be at a level above the just knee cap ~ 2 O'clock position if facing the knee. The pain can be described as a slight twinge that gradually intensifies almost feeling like the *pop* when a muscle gets cramp.

There is no grinding, no clicking, no locking and no feeling of instability.
The Doctor tested for ligament tear and found none but could not diagnose further.

I took the RICE approach. Avoided anything that causes the pain - football and walking. I've also done regular swimming and stretching and some gentle cycling (~strangely cycling doesn't cause any issues).

5 Weeks in I've started to gradually increase my exercise level. I did a bit of running a couple of days ago. The area to the top right of the knee felt a little sore afterwards but no symptomatic pain as described above.

Yesterday, I attempted to play some football and within 5 mins I could feel the onset of the pain described above so stopped immediately.

The injury has been improving over the 5 weeks and is certainly less prevalent but I still do not know what it is.

I had this same problem. Your quad is weak, sorry to say. You need to start by doing rehab excersizes to strengthen the muscles around the knee. Do a google search. Once you have built a solid base you can move into weight-training. There is a lot to getting it done the right way. But its seems like you are a recreational athlete so I dont want to goes off and tell you what to do

It sounds like a VMO problem. Do you have wasting of the muscle where it is painful? Has anyone tested the mobility of your kneecap?

Basically you have stabilisers to the kneecap and one of this is in the area you describe (VMO). What you need to do is a VMO strength programme. Basic exercise is the SLR with a variation. Lie on the floor facing up, then twist your leg from your hip outwards keeping the leg straight. Then lift the leg off the floor as high as you can without pain. The progression from that is squats for VMO. You can do them leaning with our back against the wall first (these are easier as you are taking less of your body weight). Have your feet set at 10 to 2 and away from the wall and then bend your knees out towards your toes. Make sure though (VERY IMPORTANT) that your knee don't go over your toes. If they do move you feet further away from the wall. After these are ok, move to squats without the wall, again make sure your knees don't go over your toes - its more of a stick your bum out and sit back movement than a bend forward. Once you've mastered the squat two-legged you need to do them one-legged.

This is justa starter of exercises. If any pain then obviously stop. If you get pain or no improvement please book in to see someone