"My knees have told my head 'you have to stop'. My knees will be important for me just to function in everyday life and for my quality of life.
"I will start to educate myself as a coach now and start my next career in football on the other side of the white line. That's what I want to do.
"It was an easy decision. I was training last week and the knee blew up a bit again so I've reached the end of the line.
"My heart wanted to play on but time moves on.
"I'm 34 now, I'll be 35 before this season finishes and everything has to come to an end. With my knee not being 100%, I'm not able to play at the level at which the manager needed me, so it was an easy decision and I feel quite relaxed about it. It has been a fantastic 11 years.
"1999 was a great night for everyone concerned for the club. I think everyone in Manchester has shook my hand and said 'I was there' - think there must have been 2 million there!
"I'm not too keen on looking back and saying 'that was a good moment', I've always looked forward but I'm just proud to have worn the shirt. And I can say I did what I could do".
"I've had little chats with the Gaffer and maybe doing some coaching and my education here and that will be great. There's no better place to be than here. I've had the best education and the best manager and I've tried to study him and learnt from the best and now I just want to start learning again. I'm not going back on the pitch so it's time to teach someone else."