LEE CATTERMOLE has announced his retirement at the age of 32.
The former Middlesbrough, Wigan and Sunderland midfielder’s final season was at Dutch club VVV Venlo – where he made 11 appearances.
And he will now concentrate on getting his coaching badges.
He said: “With the current situation, the amount of time I have had at home, and a great season in Holland, the time is right for me to look into going down the coaching route.
“Ordinarily I don’t think it would have been this year, my aim would have been to play two more seasons.
“Given how long it was since I last played, the more time I have been away from playing, the more I have thought about the game and getting on the training pitch.
“If the season hadn’t finished like it did in May then things might not have been like this, but I think this is right.
“I am happy with my playing career, although I’m sure I could have done better. I could have done worse as well.
“I will learn from those things and I want to make sure I am an even better coach/manager than I was a player.”
Known for his no-nonsense tackling, Cattermole racked up 272 Premier League appearances.
After making his top-flight debut as a 17-year-old Middlesbrough youngster in 2006, he spent three years on Teeside before joining Wigan for a single campaign.
But the former England Under-21 international is best known for spending a decade as a Mackem between 2009-19, even starring in Netflix’s Sunderland Till I Die documentary.
