Melbourne City goalkeeper and A-League Men stalwart Jamie Young has retired midway through the season, bringing an impressive career to a close.
Young, 39, had a lengthy career at Brisbane Roar, Western United then City, registering 59 clean sheets across 288 ALM appearances.
But he didn't play a minute this season, with City keen to expose young goalkeeper Patrick Beach to senior football.
"I've fought as long as I could to play and I think now is the right time to retire," Young said in a statement.
"I've loved playing the game of football and have been lucky enough to play all around the world and meet some incredible people."
Young spent seven years at the Roar, then followed former coach John Aloisi to United where he was crucial to their 2021-22 championship win, before joining City ahead of 2023-24.
He played every game last season but has deputised for 22-year-old Beach, whom coach Aurelio Vidmar has publicly backed to keep starting, despite some costly mistakes in his first senior season.
Vidmar has hailed Young's "incredible career" and when asked whether that frustration had contributed to his decision to retire effective immediately, said: "I don't know, but as a footballer, you just want to play all the time and always there's certain levels of frustration, because you just want to play.
"And unfortunately, this year, we've been pushing Beachy along, and maybe that can contribute to the decision. But it is what it is - he's made the decision and just gone with it."
James Nieuwenhuizen will now compete with Beach for the No.1 spot, starting with Friday night's clash with second-placed Adelaide at Cooper's Stadium.
Seventh-placed City last beat Adelaide in May 2022 and haven't won at Hindmarsh since 2018.
"Adelaide are a very, very good team, especially going forward. They can score quickly. They're quick in transition moments and it's never an easy game going into Coopers," Vidmar said.
"They'd probably be hurting a little bit as well after last week's (4-1) loss to Sydney.
"But a tough game, we haven't had a really good record there, to be honest. The last time we won was 2018 so that's a hell of a long time - I think nine or 10 visits to Coopers. So that's something that we need to change.
"We've lost our last two, so we're in a situation where we can't afford a third loss, and everything's so tight (on the table) anyway."
