THE ONE-TIME youngest player in Premier League history has retired at the age of 32.
His career included spells in Denmark and non-league before he announced he was hanging up his boots on Tuesday.
A Fulham academy graduate, the defender made his Premier League debut aged 16 years, two months and seven days in May 2007.
After coming off the bench for the Cottagers against Middlesbrough, he then sat a GCSE exam the following day.
He would hold the record for 12 years before it was broken by Harvey Elliott in 2019.
The player in question is Matthew Briggs, who now looks unrecognisable over 16 years on.
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Briggs confirmed his retirement in a social media post, writing: “I would also like to thank my family and friends for supporting me throughout my career.
“Thank you to the clubs, coaching & background staff, and teammates I’ve had along the way.
“Now I look forward to helping the next generation of future stars. Thank you. Briggsy.”
Briggs spent a further seven years with Fulham after his Premier League debut, playing 12 more top flight matches in that time.
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He also had four loan spells before departing in 2014 before a journeyman career in the Football League, non-league and Denmark.
The former England youth international had only joined seventh tier Horsham earlier this summer, prior to announcing his retirement.
However, he has now departed after deciding to end his playing career.
Briggs also won 15 caps for Guyana and represented the country at the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
