The timing is right: Wales and Swansea midfielder Joe Allen announces retirement

Wales midfielder Joe Allen has announced his retirement from football after his instinct told him he was not going to reach next year’s World Cup.

Allen, who won 77 caps for Wales and was also a member of the 2012 Great Britain Olympic team, will play his final game for Swansea on Saturday.

The 35-year-old – who played a pivotal role as Wales reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016 and was named in the official team of that tournament – has made over 580 appearances in an 18-year senior career.

Allen started and ended his career at Swansea and also played for Wrexham, Liverpool and Stoke.

He reversed his February 2023 decision to retire from international football in October citing “unfinished business” with Wales, but said ahead of his final game against Oxford: “The timing’s right. A lot of factors go into the decision, but when you get to 35 you’re only getting worse.

“I still think I have some value and something to offer, but there’s probably a line I didn’t want to cross in terms of the level of performance I can give.

“I’m probably right up to that line at the moment. When you couple that with the injuries you accumulate over the years, I’m at that stage where I can’t push things any further.

“It (the 2026 World Cup) was a big part of the decision. My instinct told me I wasn’t going to get there. Or, if I did get there, it wasn’t going to be at the level I wanted to be representing my country at a World Cup.

“So, it certainly made thinking about retirement a lot harder, with that on the horizon next summer.

“But, realistically, I didn’t quite feel I was going to get there.”

Pembrokeshire-born Allen broke won promotion into the Premier League at Swansea in 2011 and helped establish them as a top-flight club, before