Northern Ireland defender set to announce retirement just two weeks after joining new club
Northern Ireland defender Craig Cathcart
Northern Ireland defender Craig Cathcart is set to announce his retirement from football aged just 34 and only two weeks after signing for a club in Belgium on a one-year deal.
The former Watford star is believed to be hanging up the boots after a 16-year career that started at Manchester United and ended with Belgian Pro League team Kortrijk.
Cathcart had only joined Kortrijk on a one-year contract on September 5 after departing the Hornets following nine seasons, which included 262 appearances, but is set to end his career without playing for the top flight side.
According to Belgian football journalist Sacha Tavolieri, the Glengormley man will bring down the curtain on his time in the sport, with the suggestion being that he couldn’t motivate himself to play on.
Cathcart started his career as a youth player at Old Trafford, although he did not make a senior appearance before moving on to Blackpool when they earned promotion to the Premier League in 2010, although he failed to keep them up despite making 30 appearances that season.
The 73-times capped international would then move on to Watford in 2014, where he would play for them in the top flight in six of his eight seasons at Vicarage Road, before departing the club at the expiry of his contract this summer.
First called up to the Northern Ireland senior squad in May 2009, the highlight of Cathcart’s time in a green shirt would be representing his country at Euro 2016 in France, starting in their 2-0 win over Ukraine in Lyon.
Read on belfasttelegraph.co.uk
