Former Everton winger Aaron Lennon has retired from professional football at the age of 35. The Yorkshire-born attacker spent three years at Goodison Park, signing on an initial loan deal in February 2015, before agreeing a three-year contract worth £4.5 million, keeping him at the club until 2018.
Since leavening the Blues, Lennon has had two spells at Burney, as well as twelve months in Turkey with Kayserispor, but yesterday announced via his Twitter account that he was calling time on his career. “I’ve finally decided that the time is right to hang my boots up, having weighed up my options I didn’t feel any were was right for me and my young family.
“It has been a very tough decision as football has been my life since probably the age of 3 and the last 20 years playing professionally at the very top has been so amazing. I’ve loved every minute of it! Football means so much to me and always will do. I don’t think I even realised how much until I started considering this retirement, it has been everything and more.”
Off the pitch, Lennon has spoken openly in recent years about his struggles with his mental health and has subsequently launched a series of mental wellbeing projects at schools in Burnley. The ex-Everton player also revealed that a number of fellow professional footballers had approached him to discuss their own mental health struggles. Lennon said, “I’ve spoken to a couple of players. They wanted to know what I was going through, and I gave them some advice. If anyone is feeling that way, then they should definitely go and seek the help they need.”
Lennon was a firm favourite during his time at Everton, his hard-work and commitment endearing him to the Goodison Park crowd. In 65 Premier League games, Aaron Lennon scored 7 goals for the Blues.