Having spent ten seasons with Swansea and played in over 250 games for the Welsh side, it will be a blow for the club to lose a player of Wayne Routledge's experience and status to retirement - and boss Russell Martin has admitted to Wales Online that he will be a 'big miss in the dressing room.'

At 36-years-old, the player has finally decided to call it a day with his side, having not featured for any club yet this season.

He was struggling with an injury and had turned down the chance to stay on with the Swans and has now decided to end his career rather than continue to search for another team.

Routledge has been in football since he was just 16-years-old and played for Crystal Palace. He then featured for the likes of Portsmouth, Fulham, Aston Villa and Newcastle.

However, he spent the most time with Swansea, doing them well during their stint in the Premier League and staying on with them when they were relegated to the second tier.

 

 

His presence then will no doubt be missed after so long with the Welsh side - and the club's current boss had admitted to Wales Online that he will be a loss to the team. He said: "He's been brilliant, top drawer.

"Brilliant player, and not just that, but a brilliant character. The way the players look up to him in the dressing room, the relationship he has with them, he's been a real mentor to them for quite a while.

"He'll be a big miss in the dressing room. The first day chat was that we were really excited to work with him and he said 'no, I'm going to retire'. We understand and respect his decision and wish him nothing but the best because he's done brilliantly for this football club.

"He's welcome back at any time."

There may be a role for Routledge in the future, perhaps as a coach or in some kind of backroom team role. The player is certainly seen as an icon at the club and although he might want to step away from the game for now, it looks like current boss Russell Martin would be more than happy to have him back in some capacity in the future.

The Verdict

After so many years with Swansea and some superb performances, he will be a big loss for Swansea. Although his best years are behind him, his experience and wisdom is no doubt valuable to some of the younger players at the club so he will be missed by them.

There will likely be a job for the player with the Welsh side at some point in the future and that could be a great chance for him to make the leap into coaching. Whatever he decides to do though, he can certainly look back on his career with pride having achieved some great things with the Welsh club.