Ex-Sunderland midfielder Lee Cattermole reveals why he has decided to retire from football

The tough-tackling midfielder, who joined the Black Cats in 2009, spent a decade at the Stadium of Light before departing for Dutch side VVV Venlo last summer after an agreement was made to prematurely end his contract.

And having left the Eredivise side over the summer, Cattermole now feels the time is right for him to call time on his playing career – and turn his attentions to forging a career in management and coaching.

Speaking to the Northern Echo after making the decision, he said: “I have always wanted to coach/manage. Now is a good opportunity to focus on that.

“I am 100 per cent fit, I have kept myself fit, I would anyway. I still have a lot of drive, energy, and I want to now put that into coaching to help others get better.

“It’s exciting, it feels like I am going back to the start again. It is about making my way in coaching. It is a huge challenge and one I am really excited about getting stuck into.

"We all strive for more, people say ‘no regrets’, but there will be regrets in certain areas,” he continued.

"That is what you have to learn from.

“I know how hard I have trained every day in training. There were good and bad performances, everything that goes with being a pro footballer, the ups and downs, the injuries, the memorable results.

“All the stuff I have managed to do in my career I can learn from, and I can learn more from the bad stuff too. I am proud of what I have done.

“My career has set me up for the future – a future I am looking forward to.

“I will be going from being an old player to being one of the youngest coaches. I am happy with my playing career, although I’m sure I could have done better. I could have done worse as well.

“I will learn from those things and I want to make sure I am an even better coach/manager than I was a player.”

Cattermole ends his career with a stellar record of 384 appearances – the majority of which came in the Premier League.

The midfielder spent time with Wigan Athletic in addition to his spells with the Black Cats and local rivals Middlesbrough, and has also represented England at under-21 level.

He also holds the honour of being Middlesbrough’s youngest-ever captain, while he also appeared for the Teessiders in the UEFA Cup Final against Sevilla in 2006.

Cattermole made 258 appearances for the Black Cats during his decade at the Stadium of Light, scoring ten times.

He appeared for the side three times at Wembley and played a key role in great escapes under Gus Poyet, Paolo Di Canio and Sam Allardyce.

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