Former Bristol City, Cardiff and West Ham man announces retirement after ‘dream’ career

Former Bristol City striker Nicky Maynard looks set to retire from football at the end of the season.

The 36-year-old is currently at Macclesfield in the seventh tier of English football and after helping them win promotion , it looks like he could be calling time on his career. Maynard’s potential last game as a footballer, will come against Mossley on Saturday, April 22, which would bring to an end an 18-year involvement in the game.

Maynard joined the Robins from Crewe Alexandra in 2008 after a prolific spell with the Alex, scoring 35 goals in 67 games. At Ashton Gate he was an instant success and scored 11 goals in his debut campaign, before netting 20 the season after in the same amount of matches.

A knee injury in pre-season meant that Maynard was limited to just 13 matches in 2010/11 and he played his first match of that campaign in February but scored six goals. Despite an offer from Leicester City and interest from Nottingham Forest and Southampton, Maynard remained but failed to agree a new contract.

In a post on Instagram, which featured pictures of him throughout his career, Maynard wrote: “As a kid growing up my dream was to be a footballer. I’m thankful to of been able to fulfill my dream and have a career that I am proud of. The teams I have played for I’m forever grateful for the opportunities you gave me to succeed.

“My team mates of 19 years I’ve had the pleasure of sharing the dressing room and pitch with it was an honour and the friends I have made along the way, I hope I was a good teammate on and off the pitch as I can assure you all were great for me. An environment I’m sure I’ll miss but will never forget.

“Thanks to the fans who have supported me and the ones that jeered me along the way you’ve made me a better person. To have promotions, accolades and to play in the Premier League on my CV is something I will look back on with great pride.

“I hope I have set standards for my boys to go above and beyond to succeed in whatever they wish to dream.”

He was sold to West Ham United on Deadline Day on January 2012, and helped them win promotion to the Premier League. Maynard netted three times in 16 matches, but did not get a chance to play in the Premier League.

Maynard was sold to City’s Severnside rivals Cardiff City and made a positive start but suffered an ACL injury that kept him sidelined for a large part of his time in South Wales. He played for the Bluebirds briefly in the Premier League, but then had a loan move at Wigan Athletic before departing for MK Dons.

Since leaving MK Dons, he had a spell at Aberdeen and Bury, as well as Mansfield Town and later Newport County. He was at Tranmere Rovers last season, but after his contract was not renewed he joined Macclesfield, whose director of football is Robbie Savage.

An impressive crowd of 4,701 fans came out to Moss Rose to watch Macclesfield lift the North West Counties League Premier Division title. Maynard was substituted off in the 2-2 draw with Prescot Cables and shared a moment with their backroom staff after exiting the pitch.