Former England goalkeeper Carly Telford has introduced her retirement from soccer on the age of 35.
Newcastle-born Telford, who made 27 senior appearances for her nation, has referred to as time on a profession which has encompassed the rise of ladies’s soccer in Britain after a spell within the United States with San Diego Wave.
In a letter launched on her social media accounts, Telford stated: “I guess the saying goes, ‘When you know, you know…’. After 20 years of playing the beautiful game, it’s time for me to hang up the old boots and gloves.
“I was six when I started kicking a ball around with my friends in the back garden. So, what was this little girl’s dream all those years ago? Probably to be able to keep playing football with her mates for as long as she could.
“After thinking these past few weeks and months, I’m pretty sure I’ve spent the last 20 years doing exactly that.”
She added: “Being a professional footballer was never something I thought I’d say I could be as a little girl. Now with the growth and what the Lionesses achieved last summer, that dream is now a reality for any little girl that wants to dream.”
Telford started her profession at Sunderland and performed for Leeds, Charlton, Chelsea – with whom she gained three Women’s Super League titles, the Spring Series crown, two FA Cups and two League Cups – Perth Glory, Notts County and Liverpool earlier than heading throughout the Atlantic for the 2022 season.
I can by no means thank soccer sufficient for the folks it is introduced into my life
Carly Telford
Wave coach Casey Stoney, a former Lionesses team-mate, instructed the membership’s official web site: “Carly is an extraordinary person, athlete and professional and it’s been an honour not just to be her coach, but a former team-mate as well.”
Telford, who represented her nation on the World Cup and European Championships and Great Britain on the Olympic Games, hopes to stay concerned in soccer in some capability.
She stated: “I’ve been blessed to play with and against some of the greatest women to ever grace the field, shared moments that will stay with me forever, won trophies and medals I could never have dreamt of.
“But what will stay with me forever is the people, the team-mates that became friends and the friends that became family. I can never thank football enough for the people it’s brought into my life.”
