Kevin Davies announces retirement from football By Adam Tomlinson
Last Updated: 04/09/15 11:53am
Former Bolton Wanderers striker Kevin Davies has announced his retirement from football after being without a club since the end of last season. The 38-year old was released by Preston in July after making 43 appearances for the Lancashire club, who won promotion to the Championship last season. Davies, who made his England debut at the age of 33, announced his retirement on Twitter. "It's been emotional. Thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way #22seasons," he tweeted. Speaking to talkSPORT, Davies added:
"I'm officially retired. I'm not playing anywhere at the moment and I've spoken to a lot of people about it. It's a big decision for me and my family, and it just feels like the right time for me." Davies began his 22-year career at Chesterfield in 1993 and made his debut at the age of 16 when he played against West Ham in the League Cup.
After making over 100 appearances for Chesterfield and leading them to an FA Cup semi-final he moved to Southampton, before making a £7.5m move to Blackburn in 1998.
During his time with Blackburn, he only managed one league goal in 23 appearances and was sold back to Southampton just a season later.
In 2003, he left the Saints and signed for Bolton Wanderers on a free transfer.
He went to make over 400 appearances for the Trotters during his 10-year spell with the club which included 85 goals and his solitary England call-up in 2010 when he appeared as a second-half substitute against Montenegro. After leaving Bolton on a free transfer, he spent the last two years of his career playing in League One with Preston. He said: "It's going to be strange, having done it for the last 22 years professionally, being in that routine of getting up and training with the boys every day, so I'll miss that part of it, the competing and the camaraderie.
"But I'm enjoying the other side of it as well, I've done a bit of coaching locally and I'm doing lots of media work at the minute which I'm finding really enjoyable, so I'm feeling OK."
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/9978529/kevin-davies-announces-retirement-from-football
