Damien Duff: My heart wants to go on but my body has had enough

There were times when, such was his enduringly youthful enthusiasm for the game, it seemed as if Damien Duff would go on forever, but yesterday came the news that, reluctantly, one of Ireland’s best-loved players has had to call time on his football career.

The 36-year-old admits he had hoped to play one more season with Shamrock Rovers, but the physical toll taken by a long career and its inevitable injuries — most recently last February, when a ruptured calf tendon curtailed his spell in Australia with Melbourne City and saw him return home for his swansong with the Hoops — has finally forced his hand.

“After much deliberation, I have decided to bring my professional football career to an end,” he said in a statement. “My heart wants me to continue playing but my body has finally won the battle and told me to stop.