The right-back earned 54 caps for England in a 16-year career
Glen Johnson has called time on a playing career that included spells at Chelsea, Liverpool, Portsmouth and West Ham.
After being released by Stoke City at the end of the 2017/18 campaign, the 34-year-old hasn’t been able to find a new club and claims that he is happy to be hanging up his boots with his body still in a good condition.
“I knew halfway through last season I was going to call it a day,” he stated on TalkSPORT on Monday. “I always wanted to retire at an age where my body still felt good.
“Every player knows when their time is up. Mentally, I always wanted to stop quite young and also you can’t always play the game the way you want to play the game when you’re 34.”
An attacking full-back, Johnson came through the West Ham academy before a big money move to Chelsea in 2003. At Stamford Bridge, he lifted the Premier League and League Cup before heading to Portsmouth and achieving iconic status as part of their 2008 FA Cup-winning side.
The following year, he won the Pompey Player of the Year award having also scooped the league’s Goal of the Season competition for a thumping long-range volley against Hull.
A subsequent six-year spell with Liverpool saw the Englishman win the League Cup once more before he finished his career at Stoke, who were relegated to the Championship at the end of last season.
Johnson’s England career saw him earn 54 caps and score one goal after making his debut at the age of just 19, going on to feature in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, along with Euro 2012.
