MURPHY CALLING IT A DAY

MICHAEL MURPHY has shocked Donegal by announcing his retirement from intercounty football.

The 33-year-old (above) is widely acknowledged as the greatest player in the county’s history and captained them to their second All-ireland title in 2012 as well as five Ulster crowns.

His decision will come as a hammer blow to recently-appointed Donegal manager Paddy Carr, who

would have been building his plans around the Glenswilly man despite his advancing years.

Murphy made his senior debut for the county as a 17-year-old against Leitrim in the qualifiers in 2007 and was appointed captain by Jim Mcguinness when he took over as manager ahead of the 2011 season, ushering in the most successful period in the county’s history.

Although he has completed 16 seasons, an extraordinary length of service by modern standards, the news still comes as a surprise as only in October of last year Murphy commented that “there’s still a number of years left in me that I believe I can contribute, I’m just going to keep going”.

However, in a statement issued through Donegal GAA, he appears to suggest his decision was made in the aftermath of the qualifier defeat to Armagh (above) earlier this year.

Another part of his statement read: “I no longer feel I have the energy and capacity to reach the performance levels to give my best to Donegal.”