NOT FAST ENOUGH, NOW

As the new season beckons, some famous names will be missing from club team sheets. Ryan Giggs is one of the high profile retirees. Finally hanging up his boots on 19 May 2014, Giggs at 40, former Manchester United and Wales winger made a record number of appearances for his club and won 22 major trophies as a player, more than any other in English football. Equal oldest to retire after the end of the last season is Kevin Phillips, who has made a number of telling performances in a variety of clubs, and Jason Roberts MBE, for services to sport, at 36 and Danny Higginbotham, 35, a Gibraltar international, are mere youngsters comparatively. Harry Kewell spent the latter stages of his career at home in Australia where he finished playing for Melbourne Heart. Kewell was recently voted his country's greatest footballer. Craig Bellamy bows out at 34, whereas Wayne Bridge and Park Jin Sung, finish at 33. Jin Sung made 100 appearances for South Korea. All these have made major contributions to national and international football and will no doubt have an influence on our football in the next few years in different guises.