Preston North End goalkeeper Declan Rudd has announced his retirement from football at just 31 years old due to injury.
The shot-stopper has enjoyed a fine career, featuring for Norwich City, Charlton Athletic and Preston North End thrice in his career.
Rudd has racked up a total of 290 senior appearances in his career over the three clubs he’s been at, and has been a man to rely on when called upon between the sticks.
But, the goalkeeper has been forced to retire from the professional game, Preston North End confirmed today.
Rudd has undergone many operations on his knee in order to try and save his playing career, but it couldn’t be done, leading to him hanging his boots up at the age of 31.
Speaking to the Preston North End media team, Rudd said:
“I’ve known for a while now so I’ve had a bit of time to let it sink in, but I wouldn’t say I’ve quite come to terms with it.
“It’s a big thing that was always a possibility but one I hoped wouldn’t happen. Everybody wants to finish on their terms and I thought that I still had my best playing days to come, but unfortunately it’s stopped too early.
“The worst thing is I haven’t had the chance to say bye to the players, the staff or the fans yet, so it’ll be nice to get back to Deepdale.
“The last time I played at Deepdale was for the Liverpool game in a full house, so it’s not a bad game to have as your last appearance, but it’ll be nice to go back there to thank everyone because they’ve all been brilliant with me, the fans especially.
“Everyone always stuck by me, so that’s why I wanted to come back five or six years ago, because it just felt like a club I belonged at.”
Rudd began his career at Norwich City and made a handful of appearances for them during the 2015/16 Premier League season, whilst playing on loan at Charlton Athletic in the 2016/17 season.
What does it mean for Preston?
It leaves the Lilywhites with three senior goalkeepers in their first-team squad – Daniel Iversen, Matthew Hudson and Connor Ripley.
Leicester City loanee Iversen has been the obvious first choice since signing last season and has featured in all 38 Championship games this season.
The latter two are yet to make their debuts for North End, with them both spending time on loan away this season for certain periods.
The retirement of Rudd doesn’t create any major problems considering there’s two other back-ups in line to take Iversen’s place if needed.
However, this could mean Ryan Lowe could dip into the free agent market to acquire a goalkeeper with more playing experience to be second choice to the Danish goalkeeper.
