Former Rochdale and Crawley Town man Gary Dicker has announced his retirement from the game.
The ex-midfielder has decided to call time on his playing career at the age of 35.
Dicker made 486 appearances in his career, many of which came in the Football League.
He has taken to Twitter to announce he is hanging up his boots (see tweet below):
Officially retired and hanging up the boots. A big thank you to all the clubs, fans, players, staff and managers I’ve played with and played for. I’ve lived the dream….doing something I’ve loved day in, day out. Thank you 🙌🏼
— Gary Dicker (@gary_dicker) January 25, 2022
Early days
Dicker started his career in Ireland with Cherry Orchard and UCD before Stockport County came calling in 2007. He went on to become a key player for the Hatters and 68 appearances before moving down south to join Brighton and Hove Albion.
The former Republic of Ireland youth international spent four years on the books of the Seagulls and helped them gain promotion to the Championship during his time there.
Rochdale and Crawley Town spells
Dicker decided to head back up to the North West to join Rochdale in 2013 and played for them under Keith Hill. However, Crawley lured him down south again after just six months at Spotland.
He played 15 times for the Dale in all competitions but did enough to persuade the Red Devils to lure him up a division to League One.
Dicker later went on to have spells at Carlisle United and Kilmarnock before re-signing for Brighton last July to become one of their over-age outfield players in the Premier League.
Manchester United made a similar signing in Paul McShane from Rochdale, whilst Southampton snapped up Ollie Lancashire.
However, Dicker’s playing days are over now with the Seagulls and he will be weighing up his next move in life.
