FORMER Arsenal star Henri Lansbury has retired from football aged 32.
The midfielder made eight appearances for the Gunners after coming through the club’s academy.
He played in the Premier League for Aston Villa but spent the majority of his career in the Championship, featuring for the likes of West Ham, Nottingham Forest, Norwich and Watford.
Most recently he played for Luton and made 12 appearances as the Hatters won promotion to the Prem.
But following his release Lansbury has, as expected, decided to hang up his boots to focus on a different career path.
He released a statement announcing his retirement, which reads: “I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who I have had the pleasure of working within the football world.
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“From managers, coaches to teammates and to opponents – it’s been one hell of a ride!
“I’m so grateful for the amazing experiences – from the clubs that I have represented, being part of four promotions, to representing England at youth level and for the support I received whilst overcoming testicular cancer.
“The highs and the lows, I’ve loved every minute of it.
“Peace out and catch you all on the grass soon.”
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Lansbury owns a grass fertiliser company called Grass Gains, and he has worked on pitches at Fulham and Genk.
He is now set to join Monaco to work on the French side’s pitch, while Grass Gains’ ‘Lawn Bulk’ fertiliser has received glowing reviews from the likes of Micah Richards, Luton star Tom Lockyer and former Wales international James Chester.
Speaking about his new career, Lansbury said: “We’ve done Fulham, we’ve done Genk and we’re in at Monaco soon.
“We’re going in the right direction, a few local clubs have asked for it and we’ve put it down on their pitches as well.
“I want to give back to the local clubs really, I want them to have a nice pitch to play on, there’s nothing better than a kid running on a pitch with stripes on it and that’s what it does, it helps stripe it off.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
