Harlequins and former England scrum-half Danny Care has announced his retirement from professional rugby at the end of the season.
The 38-year-old announced on Tuesday that he was hanging up his boots after almost two decades with Quins, making 393 total appearances across all competitions - a club record in the professional era - and scoring 111 tries and 587 points after joining as a teenager from Leeds Tykes in 2006.
Care won two Premiership titles at The Stoop in 2012 and 2021 in addition to the 2011 European Challenge Cup and last year signed a new one-year contract to take his stay in south-west London into a 19th season after rejecting a lucrative move abroad.
That came after he had retired from international duty following the 2024 Six Nations, having amassed 101 caps for England since 2008 and won three Six Nations championships, including a Grand Slam under Eddie Jones in 2016.
Thank you @dannycare ❤️#COYQ | #DC9 pic.twitter.com/slQ9c8sBAL
— Harlequins 🃏 (@Harlequins) May 13, 2025
“So, it's finally time. Unfortunately, after 19 years of playing for this incredible Club, I'm going to be retiring from rugby at the end of the season,” said Care, who will remain at Harlequins moving forward in an ambassadorial role.
“I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting a lad from Leeds come down to this Club and feel like home from day one.
“To all the fans. Thank you for everything you've given me and my family. As I said, you brought us into your hearts. You've sung my name louder than it's ever deserved. And I can't really put into words what representing this Club and playing in front of you all has meant to me.
“To Charles and to Duncan, the owners of the Club - two magnificent people, who’ve given me this opportunity to play here, and have stuck by me all these years – thank you both. I’d also like to thank all my amazing teammates, all the coaches, staff members who have been a part of my career.
“I will be supporting this Club forever, and I’ll always be a Quin.”
Harlequins’ director of rugby Billy Millard said of Care: “It has been an honour to work with Danny these last 6 seasons. He will go down as one of the greatest to play for Harlequins, and his spirit and approach to the game has luckily been passed down to our group of players.
“I will never forget that look on his face after we won the Premiership in 2021, he drove the back end of that season brilliantly. His impact at this club has been immense and his presence and cheeky grin will be missed around the environment.”
