Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Manchester United's Paul Scholes has announced his retirement aged 36.
Midfielder Scholes made his United debut in 1994, making 676 appearances, and will now join the coaching staff.
The news came after he helped the club win a record 19th league title, the 10th of his career, and his last game was Saturday's Champions League final loss to Barcelona.
"This was not a decision I've taken lightly but I feel now is the right time for me to stop playing," he said.
The famously low key Scholes stated: "I am not a man of many words but I can honestly say that playing football is all I have ever wanted to do and to have had such a long and successful career at Manchester United has been a real honour.
"To have been part of the team that helped the club reach that 19th title is a great privilege."
In addition to winning 10 Premier League titles, Scholes was a member of the team that triumphed in the 2008 Champions League final against Chelsea, but was suspended for the 1999 final win over Bayern Munich.
He also won 66 England caps before retiring from international football following the Euro 2004 tournament, aged only 29.
Paul Scholes was just starting his career as I started middle school aged 11 so I have grown up watching him and he's probably been the best English midfielder of his generation. A creative genius, scorer of fantastic goals (and a terrible tackler!), he's provided football fans with many great memories at club and international level and can be considered a true legend of the game. Unfortunately he's not been the same this season, so while it's sad that time has caught up with him I think we can all agree he's making the right decision.
Good luck Scholsey!
Cheers,
AM
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