Former Wolves and England defender Conor Coady announces his retirement from football at the age of 33

Conor Coady has announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 33, bringing the curtain down on a 15-year career. The former England defender, who made 317 appearances for Wolves, shared the news on Friday morning, a day after being confirmed as co-host of a new podcast and YouTube show. He has also been coaching at boyhood club Liverpool.

Coady has called time on his playing career at 33, revealing the news in a post on Instagram on Friday morning. Alongside the announcement, the defender wrote: "Lived the dream. Eternally Grateful, Thank you."

As reported by Sky Sports, Coady had been without a club since leaving Wrexham on August 31, when his contract was terminated by mutual consent. His final game came on May 2, when he played 61 minutes of a 3-1 defeat to Swansea during a loan spell at Charlton.

Coady started out at Liverpool and went on to represent Sheffield United, Huddersfield, Wolves, Everton, Leicester, Wrexham and Charlton during a career that spanned 15 years. He spent more than half of that time at Molineux, making 317 appearances for Wolves in all competitions.

After winning the Championship title in 2017-18, Coady missed just one Premier League game across the next four seasons with Wolves. He also earned 10 senior caps for England between 2020 and 2022 and was part of the squads for Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup, though he did not play at either tournament.

After coaching both England's U19 and U21 sides earlier this year, Coady revealed in September that he had returned to Liverpool. "I'm trying to keep myself busy," he told BBC Radio 5 Live Sport. "I'm lucky enough to get the opportunity to go into Liverpool's U21s. I came through there. I'm doing a little bit of coaching with the boys, which has been brilliant.

"The lads at Liverpool are amazing with me. The players but also Jay Spearing and Rob Page, who gave me the opportunity to come in, mirror them a little bit, be in the office before training and look at how they plan a session. If they need numbers, I'll jump in and keep myself fit as well. That's what it's looking like at the minute."

Coady's work with Liverpool's youngsters offers him a path into coaching, but he is also moving into the media.

On Thursday, it was announced that he will co-host 'The Football Dugout', a new weekly podcast and YouTube show, alongside Sky Sports football presenter Mark Chapman.