Boro full-back Smith forced to retire after injury

Tommy Smith has announced his retirement from football at the age of 32.

The Middlesbrough right-back has not played since he ruptured an Achilles tendon in October 2023, and his contract at the Riverside Stadium was due to expire at the end of the season.

Smith made 353 appearances in his career, more than half of them with Huddersfield Town - who he helped to win promotion to the Premier League in 2017 - before moving on to Stoke City and then joining Boro in 2022.

Smith will continue his rehabilitation at the club, but said in a message posted on the club's website:

"When I ruptured my Achilles on 23 October 2023 I had full belief and confidence that I would come back fitter and stronger than I was before.

"Unfortunately, after 15 months of extensive rehab and on the back of some really tough conversations with the medical team at Middlesbrough, along with the best foot and ankle consultant in the UK, I have now decided to retire from professional football.

"To even think about not playing the sport that I have only ever done for pretty much my whole life is something that has been incredibly difficult to take.

"Together with the staff at Middlesbrough, we've worked tirelessly to try to get my body to the level it needs to be at, but ultimately I've not progressed as we planned and I feel it's important now for me to close this wonderful chapter of my life and look forward to what is next.

"I've come a long way since being a little boy with big dreams, from starting out at Manchester City from age 11-20, to then spending seven years at Huddersfield, two of which playing in the greatest league in the world, the Premier League, a further three years at Stoke and finally three years at Middlesbrough."