After an illustrious playing career full of remarkable cup comebacks alongside jarring Premier league lows, Steven Gerrard is done.
The 36-year-old Gerrard, who won every major club honor with liverpool apart from the English title, said Thursday he was retiring from football after an 18-year professional career.
"You are aware that time is coming towards the end, the body starts talking to you," the former England captain told British broadcaster BT. "The pains and the aches get more regular. The way you feel out there on the pitch changes.
"Over the last couple of years I've felt myself slowing down a little bit and I basically can't deliver what I used to be able to deliver and that becomes a little frustrating as time goes on."
Gerrard was one of the best midfielders of his era and won admiration for staying loyal to his boyhood club and resisting the riches offered by Premier league rivals.
He only left liverpool in 2015 after no longer being able to reach the formidable levels of his peak years and losing his place in the team. The final two seasons of his career were seen out with the los Angeles Galaxy. But there were so many moments that went Gerrard's way. The biggest of them all came in Istanbul in the 2005 Champions league final. Trailing 3-0 at halftime against AC Milan, liverpool was facing humiliation until Gerrard scored to begin a comeback that culminated in the club's fifth European title — won on penalty kicks.
A year later in the FA Cup final, liverpool was trailing 3-2 heading into stoppage time until Gerrard pounced with a long-range equalizer. Just like in the European final, the FA Cup was collected by winning a penalty shootout.
Gerrard now has a decision to make about his next job.