Former English Premier League striker Michael Bridges has retired from professional football.
Bridges, 32, made more than 200 appearances in the Premier League playing for clubs such as Sunderland, Newcastle and Leeds.
A former England U-20 international, he played 92 matches for Sunderland and 82 for Leeds United over 10 seasons, scoring 21 goals for each club.
He enjoyed three spells with the Black Cats and three with Carlisle United.
Bridges, who joined the Newcastle Jets in Australia in 2009, informed his teammates of his decision on Friday, but will stay on with the A-League side as their international football and business development manager.
After great consideration it was a difficult to decision to make, Bridges said.
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Pep Guardiola s last game in charge of Bayern Munich should have been the Champions League final, the club s executive board chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said after the coach bowed out by lifting the DFB-Pokal.
Bayern beat Borussia Dortmund 4-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw in the Berlin showpiece, allowing an emotional Guardiola to exit the Allianz Arena on a high.
Guardiola will now be heading to Manchester City for a new challenge in the Premier League and Rummenigge hailed his leadership, while bemoaning Bayern s European exit to Atletico Madrid.
Bayern lost in the Champions League semi-finals for the third year in a row, going out on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate draw with Atletico despite winning the second leg 2-1 at the Allianz Arena.
I want…
Bitter rivals Borussia Dortmund and Schalke will be hoping to claim a Revierderby triumph to arrest their respective Bundesliga slumps.
Both teams have endured underwhelming starts to the 2014-15 domestic campaign, with just three wins between them in 10 league matches.
A 3-0 victory at Werder Bremen eased the mounting pressure on Schalke coach Jens Keller on Tuesday, but that was their first win of the season as they prepare to host Dortmund on Saturday.
For Dortmund, Saturday s 2-0 loss at Klopp s former employers Mainz and a 2-2 draw at home to struggling Stuttgart on Wednesday stifled their momentum following the 2-0 defeat of Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League.
And Klopp was once again left fuming by his side s defensive errors in midweek as Dortmu…