Young to retire at the end of the season

Ipswich Town's Ashley Young during the warm up before the match. Reuters

Former England forward Ashley Young said he will retire at the end of the season, bringing the curtain down on a career spanning more than two decades.

The 40-year-old, currently at Championship side Ipswich Town, made more than 750 club appearances and scored 88 goals across spells with Watford, Aston Villa, Manchester United, Inter Milan and Everton.

"From Sefton Road to Vicarage Road to Villa Park to Wembley to Old Trafford to San Siro back to Villa Park to Goodison Park and finally to Portman Road. It's been some journey that I only dreamt of as a boy," Young said in an Instagram post on Thursday.

"But with this dream there has to be an ending and Saturday might be the last game of my professional career."

Young began his career at Watford, making his senior debut in 2003, and played a key role in the club's promotion to the Premier League in 2006.

He later moved to Aston Villa in 2007, where he became one of the league's most effective wide players, winning the PFA Young Player of the Year award in 2009.

His performances led to a transfer to Manchester United in 2011 under manager Alex Ferguson. Young enjoyed his most successful spell at Old Trafford, winning the Premier League title during the 2012-13 season, the FA Cup in 2016 and the Europa League in 2017.

Over nine seasons at Manchester United, he evolved from an attacking winger into a full back, later serving as club captain before departing in 2020.

Young then spent a season in Italy with Inter Milan, with whom he won the Serie A title in the 2020-21 season. He subsequently returned to Villa before later spells at Everton and Ipswich.

Internationally, Young got 39 caps for England between 2007 and 2018, representing his country at the 2012 European Championship and the 2018 World Cup.