5 football legends who came out of retirement

Deciding when to retire is never easy but it’s something every player realizes when he’s reaching the end of his career. Some players have managed to play until the age of forty by being able to keep up tremendous fitness levels. Others have their careers end unceremoniously because of injury or illness.But sometimes players do feel they still have it in them to play and feel they ended their career prematurely. They then surprise everyone by deciding to return to the big time for one last hurrah. Not all of them turn out to be successful stints but here are five famous players who came out of retirement to once again don a jersey.

#1 Socrates - Garforth Town

Socrates is hailed as one of the best Brazilian midfielders to have graced the beautiful game. The tall midfielder was a delight to watch with his intricate backheels and graceful movement on the pitch. He was part of an extremely talented Brazilian squad which to many supporters surprise, failed to win the 1982 World Cup

The midfielder made 60 appearances for his country and played most of his club football with Corinthians and Botafogo. He announced his retirement after returning to Brazil following a short stint in Fiorentina.

But in 2004, at the young age of 50, he decided to come out of retirement, signing for Garforth town in the Northern Counties East Football League in England. He signed as a player-coach for the minnows and made a single professional appearance against Tadcaster Albion coming on a substitute for the last 12 minutes of the game.

The Brazilian did realize after playing those 12 minutes that his age rally had caught up with him and decided to completely retire from the game after that. Socrates sadly passed away in December of 2011 and the Garforth owner Simon Clifford paid tribute to the legend saying, “He showed great grace in playing for me. He took no money for playing” after the club was apparently close to bankruptcy.

#2 Jens Lehmann - Arsenal

Jens Lehmann is most famous for the important part he played in Arsenal’s Invincible season. The German made 148 appearances in his six years during his first spell at the club. He then moved on to Bundesliga club Stuttgart in the summer of 2008.

He initially signed a one-year deal but extended his contract, keeping him at the club until 2010. In the August of 2009, Lehmann announced that he would retire at the end of the season and played his final game for the club in 2010. But that wasn’t the end of it.

In 2011, there were rumours swirling around that Lehmann would be returning to Arsenal. Those rumours turned out to be true as Lehmann signed back with Arsenal in March as the club were facing an injury crisis.

He was lacking match fitness but wasn’t expected to feature with Almunia still the number one choice. But in a game against Blackpool, he was injured in the warm up and Lehmann made his first appearance for the club since his return, a match that ended 3-1 in the Gunners’ favour.

Lehmann finally retired at the end of the season as the second-oldest player to represent the Gunners in their history, at the age of 41.

#3 Jurgen Klinsmann - Orange County Blue Star

Klinsmann was a prolific scorer in his day for Germany. He has represented the biggest names in European football with the likes of Inter Milan, Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur all names on his CV. Klinsmann most famously won the World Cup in 1990 with West Germany.

He also represented a unified German side in 1994 and 1998 World Cups. During his career, he also earned an unwanted reputation for diving. Klinsmann’s last club stint was with his old club Tottenham Hotspur for whom he played 15 games and scored 9 goals saving the club from relegation.

He then represented Germany one last time in the world cup of France 1998, a tournament which turned out to be a big disappointment for the European giants.

Everyone thought he had played his last game at the end of his Tottenham career, but in 2003 he was convinced to come out of retirement to play for fourth division outfit Orange County Blue Star. Klinsmann showed he still had it in him by scoring 13 goals for the club in that season.

Klinsmann then finally did retire from his playing career but took up coaching after that. In 2006, he was in charge of the German national team as they progressed to the semi-finals of the World Cup.

#4 Romario - Club Amrica

Romario is considered as one of the greatest players of all time and is one of the few to score over 1000 goals in professional football. He was very well known for the lethal partnership he formed with Hristo Stoichov when played under Johan Cruyff’s ‘dream team’ at Barcelona.

The Brazilian scored a memorable hat-trick against Manchester United in a 4-0 rout at the Nou Camp. After the match, Steve Bruce hailed him as the toughest opponent he has ever played. Romario has won the FIFA world player of the year award as well as being top scorer in several tournaments he’s played in, including La Liga and the Champions League.

Romario decided to quit football in 2008 after a long and illustrious career citing weight gain as the main reason. But in 2009, he announced he would be coming out of retirement to play for Rio De Janeiro club, America. The decision was a tribute to his father after he passed away, with his dying wish being to see his son play for the club.

Romario played his first game on 29th November as a second-half substitute in the 68th minute. Although he didn't score America won 2-0 and took the title of the second division of the Carioca Championship.

#5 Paul Scholes - Manchester United

Paul Scholes is a legend at Manchester United after amassing over 600 appearances in the red shirt. He is a part of the famous ‘Class of 92’ that includes the likes of Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Nicky Butt and David Beckham.

The 41-year-old has won everything with the club with 11 league titles, 3 FA Cups and 2 Champions Leagues. His high point came in the semi-final when he scored the winning goal against Barcelona in the semi-final of the 2008 Champions League against Barcelona.

Scholes announced his retirement in May 2011 after 17 years of service and joined the coaching staff of the Red Devils. United even conducted a testimonial match in his honour against the New York Cosmos. So it caught everyone off guard when he came out of retirement against Derby in 2012 as Sir Alex Ferguson faced an injury crisis and was without adequate replacements.

Scholes made a victorious return scoring in his first appearance in the league. He ended up making 33 appearances after his comeback scoring five times in the process.

United lost the title that year narrowly losing out to Manchester City and Paul Scholes hung up his boots for good at the end of the season.