Liverpool defender Carragher to retire this summer

Associated Press Sports

updated 9:58 a.m. ET Feb. 7, 2013

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) -Long-serving Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher will retire at the end of the season, concluding a distinguished one-club career that marked him as one of the English Premier League's most competitive and tough-tackling center backs.

The 35-year-old Carragher has been at Liverpool since the age of 9 and made 723 appearances - 496 in the league.

"This will be my last season at Liverpool and my last as a professional footballer," the former England international said in a Liverpool statement on Thursday.

"It has been a privilege and an honor to represent this great club for as long as I have and I am immensely proud to have done so."

Carragher didn't say what plans he had beyond the summer.

"All our focus and concentration should be on achieving the best possible finish in the league this season and trying to win the last remaining trophy we are competing in," he said.

Only Ian Callaghan has made more appearances for Liverpool than Carragher, who often filled in as captain in the absence of close friend Steven Gerrard.

Carragher made his Liverpool debut in January 1997 and was a member of the team that won three trophies - the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup - in 2001 and then the Champions league in 2005.

Primarily a center back blessed with strong leadership skills and a good reading of the game, he could fill in as a full back on either side and also played as a central midfielder for club and country.

He hasn't been a regular for Liverpool over the past two seasons, but has recently dislodged Martin Skrtel as center back and produced a string of impressive performances.

Carragher is widely tipped to go into coaching after his playing days.

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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/50729792/ns/sports/

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