4 players who made legends retire

Tottenham Hotspur v Los Angeles Galaxy
Gareth Bale was unstoppable during his final season with Tottenham

The average career span of a professional footballer is around 18 years, with most players turning pro at the age of 18 before calling it quits by the time they turn 36.

Sometimes injury forces a player to end their career much earlier than they would have liked, as we recently saw with Ryan Mason, but the majority of players decide to retire in their mid-30s for the simple reason that they can no longer keep up with the pace of the game.

In this article, we take a look at four legends from the Premier League era and reveal which younger players had a part to play in their ultimate decision to retire.


#4 Paul Scholes & Mousa Dembele/Gareth Bale

Manchester United Legends v Real Madrid Legends
Paul Scholes initially retired in 2011

The inspiration for this article came from a brilliant interview that Paul Scholes gave to BT Sport last week, in which he explained his decision to come out of retirement in 2012 and revealed the exact moment that he wished he never re-signed with Manchester United for the 2012-13 season.

The Red Devils legend said he wished he stopped playing at the end of 2011-12, just four months after he returned, and recalled a match against Tottenham in September 2012 when he was unable to keep up with Mousa Dembele and Gareth Bale.

"I know they cruise past everybody, but I was watching them thinking I can’t do this anymore," said Scholes, who made 718 appearances during his United career.

He added that he wanted to retire early on that season but he stayed on until the end of the campaign to avoid embarrassment.

#3 David Beckham & Lionel Messi

Barcelona v Paris St Germain - UEFA Champions League Quarter Final
David Beckham finished his career with PSG

David Beckham brought an end to his trophy-laden career at the age of 38 in 2013, with his final appearances coming for Paris Saint-Germain during a four-month spell at the end of the 2012-13 season.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder featured in two Champions League matches during his time with PSG, both against Barcelona, and he received bookings on both occasions.

Asked by former teammate Gary Neville – now a pundit with Sky Sports – when he knew it was time to retire, Beckham said: “Probably when [Lionel] Messi was running past me!”

PSG were knocked out of the Champions League by Barca at the quarter-final stage that year, losing on away goals after a 3-3 draw on aggregate, with Beckham playing 70 minutes in the first leg and seven minutes in the second leg.

#2 Jamie Carragher & Romelu Lukaku

Liverpool v Queens Park Rangers - Premier League
Jamie Carragher retired in 2013

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher announced his retirement from football at the end of the 2012-13 season – the year that Romelu Lukaku scored 17 goals during a loan spell with West Brom.

During an interview with Sky Sports in 2017, Carragher joked that he still has visions of the Belgian coming on as a substitute and racing past him in a match between Liverpool and West Brom.

He added: "I tried to steal a ball from in front of him and he rolled me and ran away. He was one of the reasons why I retired. Seeing players of that ability and strength, I thought it was time for me to finish."

Carragher made 737 appearances for Liverpool and is second, behind Ian Callaghan, in the club's all-time list of appearance makers.

#1 Gary Neville & Graham Dorrans

West Bromwich Albion v Manchester United - Premier League
Gary Neville should have been punished for a foul on Graham Dorrans

If you were to make a combined XI of the best players from the Premier League era, there’s a very good chance that former Manchester United defender Gary Neville would feature at right-back.

The player-turned-pundit made 400 league appearances during his illustrious career, with his final match coming in a 2-1 win at West Brom on New Year’s Day in 2011.

Neville has recalled on numerous occasions how he knew it was time to retire when he got away with a clear foul on Graham Dorrans that should have resulted in a red card and a penalty.

He wrote in the Daily Mail in 2011: "I was making Jerome Thomas look like Ronaldo. It would have been even worse if the referee had spotted my trip on Graham Dorrans in the box."

One month later, and with three months of the season remaining, Neville retired.

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Edited by Rahul Venkat