Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has announced that he is to retire from professional football at the end of the season.
The former England centre-back has enjoyed a glittering 16-year career at Anfield since making his first-team debut against Middlesbrough in January 1997.
"It has been a privilege and an honour to represent this great club for as long as I have"
Jamie Carragher
The 35-year-old has made 496 appearances in the English top flight for Liverpool and helped his side lift the FA Cup twice, the League Cup on three occasions and also enjoyed success in European competition. Carragher's Reds won the 2001 UEFA Cup and the 2005 UEFA Champions League. The veteran defender has also been capped 38 times by England.
"This will be my last season at Liverpool and my last as a professional footballer,” Carragher, who has scored three Premier League goals, revealed on the club’s website. "I'm making this announcement now because I don't want the manager or the club to be answering questions on my future when I've already decided what I am going to do.
"I will be fully committed between now and the end of the season to doing the very best for Liverpool Football Club, as I've done my entire career since joining aged just nine years old.
"It has been a privilege and an honour to represent this great club for as long as I have and I am immensely proud to have done so and thankful for all the support I have had. There are many memories I want to share and people to thank, but now is not the time for that.
"I won't be making any further comment on this decision until the end of the season; all our focus and concentration should be on achieving the best possible finish in the league this season and trying to win the last remaining trophy we are competing in."
