Former Ireland defender Carr announces retirement

Former Republic of Ireland international Stephen Carr has called time on his career after more than 400 league appearances for Tottenham, Newcastle United and Birmingham City.

The 36-year-old full-back, capped 44 times by his country, made his professional debut at Spurs as long ago as 1993, alongside the likes of Gary Mabbutt, Vinny Samways and Teddy Sheringham.

Carr first announced his retirement in December 2008 at the age of 32 after failing to find a club following his release from Newcastle, but was persuaded to reverse that decision by Birmingham in February the following year.

He went on to make over 100 appearances appearances for Blues, and as captain led the club to a ninth-placed finish in the Barclays Premier League in 2010 and Carling Cup glory a year later. However, Carr has now gone into retirement for a second time after admitting defeat in his battle against a long-standing knee problem.

“I am going on 37 and now is the time to bow out,” Carr told the Birmingham website. “I felt okay in pre-season but my knee just crumbled away. Three operations in 18 months basically told me it had had enough. It just wasn’t meant to be in the end.

“The fans have been brilliant with me since I came in and I have had a great relationship with them. I will never forget that day lifting the cup. It was a big, big thing for me.”

Birmingham manager Lee Clark played alongside Carr at Newcastle, and said today he "has given magnificent service for every club he has played for during his career.

Clark added: “I got to know him as a playing colleague at Newcastle and quickly discovered he was a winner. His attitude on the training ground was exemplary. He treated everything as a match and always trained extremely hard. He came in to captain Birmingham City and led them to one of greatest days in their history when they lifted the Carling Cup a couple of seasons ago.”