Former Aston Villa player Marc Albrighton announced his retirement from professional football on Thursday and supporters have paid tribute to the winger.
Albrighton started his career in the academy at Aston Villa. Having joined the club as a nine-year-old in 1998, the fleet-footed winger worked his way up the youth setup and progressed into an important first-team member.
He made his competitive debut for the club in the UEFA Cup match away at Moscow in February 2009 and then went on to make 102 appearances for Villa across five years while scoring nine and assisting 19.
Albrighton was then released from his contract at Villa Park in the summer of 2014, with Leicester swooping to land his signature.
Ten years on from making that switch, the 34-year-old is now a Premier League and FA Cup winner after accumulating over 300 appearances for the Foxes.
On Thursday, he called time on his illustrious career by penning a message to the supporters on Instagram.
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Marc Albrighton sends emotional message after announcing retirement
Albrighton posted an emotional message on Instagram after announcing his retirement from the professional game, with the Englishman saying it was a ‘dream’ to play for his boyhood club Aston Villa and that making over a century of appearances made him ‘immensely proud’.
He wrote: “From the moment I kicked my first ball as a young boy, my dream was always to play for Aston Villa. To have achieved that once would have been more than enough. Yet, to play over 100 games for my boyhood club is something I will forever be immensely proud of.”
Whilst Albrighton achieved far more during his decade at Leicester, he paid the biggest tribute to Aston Villa in his farewell message and that prompted an influx of responses from Villa supporters.
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Aston Villa fans react to Marc Albrighton’s retirement
Albrighton won the two biggest honours in English football; the Premier League and FA Cup at the King Power Stadium.
The success he achieved after leaving Villa has understandably got the fans wishing he stayed at the club instead of being released.
Reacting to his retirement via X, one supporter said: “Was sorry to seem him leave.”
“To let him leave was such an error by the club, especially at a time when we were absolute rubbish. Love that he still loves the Villa. Congrats on a marvellous career Marc,” another replied.
“What a player! Happy retirement, Marc,” a third responded.
One fan even touched on how Unai Emery could have transformed him into a better player, saying: “Always felt sad that Marc left AVFC. Every about him was Aston Villa. Just imagine what Unai could have done with him!”
It was Paul Lambert, Villa’s manager at the time, who allowed Albrighton to leave for free and one supporter has branded that as his most ‘stupid’ decision. “Against stiff competition, selling Marc was one of Lambert’s stupidest decisions.”
Marc Albrighton’s career in numbers
Most supporters agreed that it was completely the wrong decision to let him go at the time and after watching him achieve incredible success elsewhere, whilst Villa largely struggled, it’s hard to disagree.
Here is Albrighton’s career in numbers:
- 464 appearances
- 35 goals
- 76 assists
- 1 Premier League title
- 1 FA Cup
- 1 community shield
