It might seem as far removed from the glitz and glamour of the Premier League, but when it came to sending out the tweet which announced his retirement, former Ireland midfielder Steven Reid picked an Aldi car park.
It is with a heavy heart that I announce my retirement from professional football at the end of the current season.There has been many highs
— STEVEN REID (@stevenreid12) May 18, 2015
Twenty four hours on from making the biggest call of his career, the 2002 World Cup squad member joined us on Off The Ball to reflect on the decision, starting with his emotions as he sat in that car park.
"I was in pieces. I broke down and all the memories of the last 17 years and beyond that came rushing in to my thoughts," the Burnley player told us.
"It honestly took me half an hour to compose myself in the car park, in the pouring rain to then get on my way to training. I had to make sure the eyes weren't too red and puffy because that's not the sort of thing that you associate with football clubs. It's all about being macho and being that experienced guy in the dressing room. But for that half an hour in car park, I was sobbing like a baby in there."
(Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
He added that he even had fleeting thoughts of pushing himself to stay for another year.
"It took me a few minutes - because I had the message almost ready in my mind and written down to tweet - but it was almost a temptation to not do it and to maybe a go again. But it was already all agreed and I'd made the decision quite some time ago. I had a little sit down with the manager [Sean Dyche]. We're friends from playing together in the Millwall days, so we had a sit down a long time ago and I told him what I intended to do at the end of the season. So I had no option but to tweet and that's when it became real."
Reid still has one final game to play for relegated Burnley on Sunday as the Premier League season ends and he says Dyche still has the team training as normal regardless.
The 34-year-old also spoke about the toll injuries took on his career during his spells at Blackburn and West Brom, including a cruciate injury that was "almost the end of Steven Reid the box-to-box midfielder" in January 2007 and continued to cause him problems due to cartilage issues.
"It has been tough but I've been fortunate enough to maybe get an extra two, three or even four years where maybe even medical teams that I've been with at the time wondered whether I would actually get through it," said Reid, who then recalled the highlight of his career as he got a "life-changing" phone call from Mick McCarthy to take up a place at the 2002 World Cup for the Boys in Green.
"That's still the highlight of my career, for sure," he said.
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