Wales midfielder Joe Morrell announces his retirement

Wales midfielder Joe Morrell has announced his retirement from professional football aged 28.

The former Luton and Portsmouth midfielder earned 37 caps for Wales during his career – playing in Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup – but suffered a knee injury in January 2024 in a league game against Oxford United.

Morrell’s remained hopefully of playing again this summer having gone through rehabilitation, which he did predominantly at Portsmouth, where his contract expired last summer.

In June he told The Guardian: “The best moments of my career have been in a Wales shirt and I’d love to have more of them.”

Officially retired

In a statement on Instagram, Morrell said: “This is not something that I ever thought that I would be writing at the age of 28, but today I’ve officially retired from professional football.

“After almost two years of rehab, trying to get my body back in to a place to train, play and compete in the professional game, I’ve had to admit the fact that I am no longer capable of this.

“It’s been an incredibly tough 21 months, full of promise, hope, tears and dark moments, but I’m at peace with the fact that I’ll never again be able to play.”