Ashley Young confirms retirement
Ashley Young has confirmed his impending retirement, with his final goal being to help Ipswich Town earn promotion to the Premier League.
Young turns 41 in July, and has had a career spanning over 20 years at the top level.
The versatile wide man has played for Watford, Aston Villa, Manchester United, Inter, Everton and Ipswich.
He also won 39 England caps, playing an integral role in the Three Lions' run to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup.
However, he will now call time on his playing career at the end of the season. With Ipswich second in the Championship and knowing a win will be enough to secure an immediate return to the top flight, it means Saturday's clash with Queens Park Rangers could mark the end of Young's career.
"From Sefton Road to Vicarage Road to Villa Park to Wembley to Old Trafford to San Siro back to Villa Park to Goodison Park and finally to Portman Road," Young wrote in a social media post.
"It's been some journey that I only dreamt of as a boy! But with this dream there has to be an ending and Saturday might be the last game of my professional career – 23 years and OUT!"
Young, who started out as a winger but typically played full-back later in his career, won the Premier League, EFL Cup, FA Cup and Europa League during his time with United, before moving onto Inter, where he won a Serie A title under Antonio Conte in 2020-21.
During his time with Everton between 2023 and 2025, Young became the fourth-oldest goalscorer in Premier League history (39 years and 148 days) when he netted against Wolves in December 2024.
Young has made 15 appearances for Ipswich this season, providing one assist.
In August, he made his first appearance in a Championship game since the 2006 play-off final, when he featured for Watford against Leeds.
The gap of 19 years and 79 days is the longest a player has had between making two appearances in the Championship.
