Kevin Davies has announced his retirement from football. The 38-year-old scored 150 career goals in 820 appearances for several clubs including Southampton, Bolton and most recently Preston North End.
The forward left Deepdale at the end of last season after helping them win promotion from League One to the Championship.
He told TalkSport: “I could probably physically do another season but I just feel it’s the right time. I’ll look back with immense pride for the last 22 years.”
Davies was released by Preston at the end of the campaign after making 43 appearances for the club. “It was disappointing what happened at Preston,” he said. “I was talking about doing a new contract there and coaching and playing on for another year in the Championship and that didn’t quite materialise. It did knock the stuffing out of me a little bit.
“But I’ve had that in my career before with Bolton, Southampton and even Sheffield United when I got rejected at the age of 15. I kept bouncing back, but I just felt this time I couldn’t quite get to that stage again. One of my biggest regrets is not playing for Sheffield United. I grew up in that area but it was one of those that never quite materialised, sadly.”
Davies told the Guardian in March that he “thought it was a wind-up” when he called up to play for England at 33. He won his sole international cap in a 0-0 draw against Montenegro at Wembley, making him the oldest England debutant since 1950.
“I’d been in so many of those long squads and on stand-by I never thought it would quite come,” he said. “To get the call at 33, it was just an amazing week for myself. I just loved every minute, travelling down, the training and getting onto the pitch.
“It wasn’t a great game but to get on the pitch and represent my country was the pinnacle. I would have also loved to play for England more, to have gone to tournaments and have those experiences, but I could only have done what I did.”
It's been emotional. Thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way #22seasons pic.twitter.com/TqX7NvUSRG
— Kevin Davies (@Kevin__Davies) September 4, 2015
