Carragher set to call it a day

Jamie Carragher yesterday announced that he is to retire from professional football at the end of the season.

The Reds legend has played 723 times for the club in a career spanning three decades, with only Ian Callaghan above him in list of all time appearances.

Liverpool’s number 23 made his debut against Middlesbrough sixteen years ago, aged just eighteen, and scored against Aston Villa in his first game at Anfield a month later.

He won two FA Cups, three league cups, the UEFA Cup, two Super Cups and two Community Shields, though the highlight of his career surely came in Istanbul eight years ago, when he lifted the Champions League trophy.

Carragher was capped 38 times England over an eleven year period, turning out at both the 2006 and 2010 World Cups.

The 35 year old has already begun studying for his coaching badges, with a role in the Liverpool staff all but certain, whilst a stint as a television pundit is also highly likely in the near future.

However, the defender has been keen to stress his commitment to the cause for the remainder of this campaign, aiming to end as high in the league as possible, as well going for one last European triumph, this time in the Europa League.