Ex-Stoke City, Aston Villa & Sheff Wed star reveals reason behind retirement after Bristol Rovers bow

Glenn Whelan has revealed the motivating factors behind his retirement at Bristol Rovers.

The 38-year-old hung up his boots this summer, bringing to an end a 20-year-plus playing career. Whelan will remain at the Memorial Stadium as a coach, but will not register as a player, as Joey Barton looks to the future.

Whelan made 18 appearances in total for the Gas in the 2022/23 campaign, but was limited to just 659 minutes of action. He made seven starts, but completed just two matches, and in his last match, was substituted following a 12-minute cameo, where he received a standing ovation from the home faithful, with his family in attendance.

Now revealing why he made the decision, In an interview with the 42.ie, he said: “Over the last 12 months, probably that fight and hunger wasn’t there as much as it should be and I didn’t want to hang around like a bad smell.

“Whenever I played, I wanted to play week in, week out, and that hunger had started to fizzle out and I didn’t want to stand in any young lad’s way.

“There were times I was needed for the bench or to play this year and I made sure that if there were other lads that were fit and available, they were put in before me.”

The 93-cap Republic of Ireland international, revealed that it was his intention to end his playing career in 2022. He had played in Rovers’ 7-0 win over Scunthorpe United, which was the most amazing away to win promotion on the final day.

He was persuaded by Barton - who he first came across during their days as youth players at Manchester City to play on for another year. Rovers had been promoted but lost several players, and their playing squad hadn’t had much experience in the third tier.

Talisman Antony Evans had only had a brief time in the division, whilst recruits Jordan Rossiter and Luke McCormick, both had campaigns impacted by injuries and fitness. Whelan, along with Paul Coutts and Sam Finley provided the experience needed to help ensure an 18th-placed finish in their first season back in the third tier.

He said: “I was persuaded by the management and coaching staff down at Bristol to try and give it a go for another year.

“Just because we were struggling for players and injuries and just with the little bit more experience of being promoted and not many of our lads playing in League One beforehand, they thought that I’d be invaluable to them.

“So that was a part of the plan for staying on.

“But if I had my own choice after the Scunthorpe game, I would have definitely hung them up then just because of how things finished that season.”