Central Coast Mariners great Matt Simon has brought his decorated A-League Men career to a close after failing to overcome a long-term neck injury.
Simon, 36, suffered the injury in an Australia Cup tie in November 2021, days before the start of the 2021-22 season, and hasn't played since.
He retires after 66 goals in 288 league games since his debut in 2007, including 211 across three stints for his hometown club and 77 for Sydney FC.
"I have tried to use the past few months to try and get myself fit and back on the field and it just hasn't been good enough to get back to where I need to be to give 100 per cent for the team," Simon said in a statement.
"The game has given me more than I ever could have imagined.
"Coming into the club at 19, if someone told me that I would be retiring at close to 37 it would have been an absolute dream.
"It has been a great ride with plenty of ups and downs. Some successful times and some hard times but I have loved every single second of it and I wouldn't change any of it."
Simon won a premiership with Central Coast in 2007-08 but missed the Mariners' only championship in 2013 as he was playing in South Korea for Jeonnam Dragons.
He reunited with his former Mariners coach Graham Arnold at Sydney FC in 2015 and won a championship there in 2016-17, plus premierships in 2016-17 and 2017-18 and the Australia Cup in 2017.
Simon was a member of the Olyroos squad that attended the 2008 Beijing Olympics while he won two Socceroos caps, both in 2009.
He will remain at the Mariners, working in player welfare and back-office operations.
"He is a champion of a guy and a legend of the club," Mariners coach and former teammate Nick Montgomery said in a statement.
"As a footballer he will always be remembered for what he did for the club and national team, and the success he has had everywhere he has been."
