John Flanagan Announces Retirement

Dundalk defender John Flanagan has announced his retirement from football, citing personal reasons behind his decision. In a previous interview this season, Flano had hinted that retiring from the game was in his mind, however, confirmation came on Thursday evening in a piece that the 30-year-old penned for the DFC Matchday Magazine for the visit of Limerick 37.

Flanagan first signed for the Lilywhites back in 1999 and has been at Oriel Park ever since, bar taking a two-and-a-half year break away from the club in 2003. In his time with Dundalk, he won a First Division title in 2001 and an FAI Cup twelve months later. Those medals added to his previous promotion success with his hometown club, Drogheda United, in 1997. It was also with the Boynesiders that he made his League of Ireland bow, in the 1995/96 season.

In total, he has made 198 competitive appearances for Dundalk, scoring 23 goals along the way, and is likely to make it 200 on the final day of the season in Kildare in a fortnight’s time. Next Thursday will see John play his last ever match at Oriel when another of his ex-clubs, Athlone Town, are the visitors. However, not done yet, Flanagan has stated his intention of adding another medal to his collection before he hangs up his boots.

“I would like to announce that I will be retiring from football after the Kildare County game in two weeks,” Flano wrote. “I’ve been in the game for 13 years now, and I’ve had a long and successful enough career. I think it’s just time to call it a day, so I can concentrate on my own life now, concentrate on my family and enjoy my kids growing up. Next week’s game with Athlone will be my last ever here in Oriel Park, so I’m looking forward to that.

“I’m only 30, but I’ve been playing for 13 years and that’s a long time. I just want to enjoy myself now. Especially with the job I’m in (school teaching), I can’t take holidays outside of the given times, and my holidays unfortunately coincide with the football season, so I couldn’t even get a decent holiday over the last number of years. I’m just looking forward to relaxing now and enjoying my life. When I started thinking about retirement, I knew I wanted to go out on a high by winning the First Division trophy and setting this club up for a position where it belongs, in the Premier Division. Hopefully, I can play a part in doing that over the next fortnight.”