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Former England defender Glen Johnson retires from football after 16-year career

  /  autty

Glen Johnson has retired from football after an impressive 16-year career that saw him win the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup.

Johnson represented West Ham, Chelsea, Portsmouth, Liverpool and Stoke and won 54 appearances for England between 2003 and 2014. He represented his country at two World Cups and a European Championship.

The 34-year-old, who was released by Stoke after they were relegated from the Premier League last season, made the announcement on talkSPORT on Monday morning.

He told the Jim White show: 'Today is the day I'm officially saying I've retired.

'I knew halfway through last season I was going to call it a day. I always wanted to retire at an age where my body still felt good.'

Johnson started out at West Ham and rose through their junior ranks before making his Premier League debut in 2003.

After catching the eye in just 16 appearances at first-team level, Johnson moved across London to Chelsea for just £6million. Johnson was the first signing of Roman Abramovich's reign as Chelsea owner and racked up 71 appearances for the Blues, winning both the Premier League and League Cup at Stamford Bridge.

After falling down the pecking order under Jose Mourinho, Johnson moved to Portsmouth initially on loan in 2006, but then permanently 12 months later, and won the FA Cup in 2008 against Cardiff.

A string of impressive performances won Johnson a place in the PFA Team of the Year and he was then signed by Liverpool for £18.5m in 2009.

He made a further 200 appearances for the Reds and claimed another League Cup title under Kenny Dalglish in 2012. He was part of the teams who almost ended Liverpool's wait for a Premier League title, first under Rafa Benitez in 09/10 and secondly under Brendan Rodgers in 13/14.

Johnson was released from Liverpool in the summer of 2015 and he joined Stoke a month later. During his spell under Mark Hughes, Johnson suffered a season-ending knee injury in February 2016.

He recovered to win his place back but then struggled for regular game time last season as the Potters were relegated to the Championship. He has been without a club since being released last summer.

At international level, Johnson represented England at both the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, in South Africa and Brazil respectively, as well as the 2012 European Championship in Poland and Ukraine.

Related: EnglandG.Johnson