Steven Davis: Northern Ireland and Rangers midfielder announces retirement

Northern Ireland and Rangers midfielder Steven Davis has retired after being sidelined for over a year with a knee injury.

Davis scored 13 goals following his Northern Ireland debut in 2005.

“It’s a strange sensation but ultimately it has been at the back of my mind given the nature of the injury and my age,” he said.

Davis – a boyhood Rangers fan – has not played since sustaining an ACL injury in December 2022.

“I did some testing four weeks ago and I realised I was still a little bit away. It feels like the time is right and I’m comfortable with it,” he told the Rangers website.

“It’s been an incredible journey to get to two European finals and win the trophies that I have, share those moments with the fans, be within the dressing room with your family after the games.

“It’s such a special football club and it goes without saying that I’m going to miss it, but I’ve had an incredible time here.”

Davis was in his second spell at Rangers after also playing for Aston Villa, Fulham and Southampton. He also had a brief stint as interim manager of the Scottish club following the sacking of Michael Beale in October.

Lawrie Sanchez was the manager when the then-Aston Villa man made his first Northern Ireland appearance in a surprise 1-0 friendly defeat against Canada at Windsor Park.

Seven months later Davis played an instrumental role in Northern Ireland’s historic giant-killing World Cup qualifier win over England in Belfast, delivering the measured pass for David Healy’s goal in the 1-0 victory.

Davis was also in Sanchez’s midfield for the 3-2 home victory over Spain in 2006 and took over the captaincy in 2012.

He scored two goals in the 3-0 win over Greece that clinched qualification for the Euro 2016 finals and led the side to the last 16 in France, where they lost 1-0 to Wales.

He broke former England goalkeeper Shilton’s UK international caps record of 125 in Northern Ireland’s World Cup qualifying 0-0 draw at home to Bulgaria in March 2021.

Davis captained the team 82 times and was awarded an MBE in 2017 for services to football.

“It has been an honour and a privilege to represent my country and the people of Northern Ireland – every time I’ve stepped on to the pitch I’ve felt a huge amount of pride,” he said on Thursday.

“There’ll be moments we shared together I’ll never forget and that was epitomised with qualification to Euro 2016 and what followed in France.

“The support and connection I’ve shared with the Green and White Army is something words alone can’t describe and I’ll always be grateful for. Thank you for the incredible support.”

Although he didn’t play for Northern Ireland during last year’s 2024 qualification campaign due to injury, he was still considered to be the captain of the squad by manager Michael O’Neill.

He said: “Whilst the news of Steven’s retirement is a sad day, particularly for football, particularly in Northern Ireland, it is also a time for us to recognise an outstanding player who has had an outstanding career.

“I have known and worked with him for many years and he is a model professional and a wonderful person.”

“His leadership qualities both on and off the pitch have always been evident through both the successful times and also the difficult periods.

“His record of 140 caps, 82 as captain, has set the bar high for current and future generations of Northern Ireland players and he is truly one of the greatest we have ever produced.”

Davis made 742 appearances and scored 51 goals for top flight clubs in England and Scotland over a 20-year career.

The County Antrim man made his Villa debut in 2004 before moving to Fulham three years later.

A season at Craven Cottage was followed by four years at Rangers before playing for Southampton from 2012 to 2019.

Davis returned to Ibrox and helped the club win a first Scottish Premiership title in 10 years and play in the Europa League final against Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022.