Hartson retires from Intl. football

[Paulie]

Ace Hartson quits Wales


Wales striker John Hartson has announced his immediate retirement from international football in order to concentrate on playing for Celtic.

The 30-year-old has amassed 50 caps for his country, scoring 14 goals, but has decided stepping down from the international scene will prolong his club career.

"It is a sad day for me because I have loved playing for my country and representing the Welsh people for a number of years," Hartson told www.stellargroup.co.uk.

Hartson scored on his debut in a friendly against Scotland in 1995 and steps down as Wales coach John Toshack begins preparations for qualifying for Euro 2008.

"I always feel enormous pride whenever I put on a Wales shirt and will always cherish the memories of my time with the national team," said Hartson.

"I would like to thank all the managers, coaches, staff and players who have helped me during my time in the Wales team, but above all I would like to thank the Welsh people for all their support and encouragement.

"It would have been fantastic to reward them with a place at a major tournament but sadly it just wasn't to be.

"However, I would love to think that in the near future the side will go on to achieve some significant success.

"Now I have made this decision I will be concentrating my efforts 100% on doing the best I can for Celtic Football Club and hopefully this decision will allow me to really enjoy the final few years of my career.

"Finally, I would like to wish John Toshack and the Wales squad the very best of luck in qualifying for the 2008 European Championships."

As Wales are in our group I reckon this is relevant to the Ireland Forum.

I think it's good news for us but if I was a Wales supporter I would not be happy. 30 years of age is very young to retire fron Intl. football. I know we have had our own cases but it still does not make it right.

[Tired&Emotional]

He obviously has no motivation to shed the two stone extra he's carrying, for Intl level....happy enough to slog on at Celtic;)

[zinedineontour]

has to be good for us .. always difficult to play against ..

[Tired&Emotional]

has to be good for us .. always difficult to play against ..

That's true but don't think he was ever gonna have the beatin's of The Honey Monster" ;)

[OwlsFan]

Good news for Ireland but continuing bad news for International football. I worry about its future.

[Irish_Praha]

Good news for Ireland but continuing bad news for International football. I worry about its future.

I think it's sort of balancing itself out. Ten to twenty years ago the majority of players were past their international best by their early thirties. With improved diets, better training methods and general improvements in sport science footballers have on average prolonged their careers by maybe 5 years or so. Instead of giving that extra five years to their country a lot of players have decided to retire when they reach their early 30's. So the international teams in effect still get the same amount of caps out of a player. Of course there are exceptions who keep on playing until they are past it e.g. Lothar Matteus.

I wouldn't be too worried until we start seeing players retiring from international football in their mid twenties, before they even reach their peak :eek:

Back to the topic:
Hartson is a bit of a hacker but he has a knack of scoring goals so it has to be a positive for Ireland that he has retired.


Edited to add:
I know Carr was only 28 whe he retired but it looks like he realised that he would never reach the performance levels of his pre-injury career. Maybe that's why he's looked so frustrated the last few years?

[eirebhoy]

As a Celtic fan who's not the greatest fan of Hartson, this is great news. Any defender that had to mark him would dread the next time they had to face him. He's not the most consistant but when he is on form I wouldn't want to face him. They have 2 speedy forwards now in Bellamy and Earnshaw now though.

[sligoman]

Great news for Ireland. Makes our defence's job that bit easier now:).

[jorge]

Worried about not getting his game in the SPL...lazy ****.

[CollegeTillIDie]

Bellamy and Earnshaw.. yes there's a volatile combination both likely to get red carded at a hand's turn.... Interesting :)