Swansea stalwart Leon Britton announces retirement from football

Swansea midfielder Leon Britton has announced that he is to retire at the end of the season.

Britton joined Swansea from West Ham in 2012, initially on loan, and apart from a six-month spell with Sheffield United in the 2010-11 season he has been with the Welsh club ever since.

The 35-year-old has played 536 games for Swansea and could make his final appearance in the last Premier League match of the season at home to Stoke on Sunday.

"I have decided that this year will be my last as a Swans player," he said. "Calling it a day makes this a strange day for me. Football is all I have known and, when I was a kid, playing football was all I wanted to do.

"I have been very fortunate to be able to play professionally for as long as I have. It is going to be strange for me, especially when the team come back for pre-season in July."

Britton was part of the Swansea side which avoided relegation from the Football League on the final day of the 2002-03 season.

He was then an integral part of Swansea's climb through the divisions and helped the club into the Premier League in 2011.

Britton won the League Cup in 2013 as Swansea claimed the first major trophy in their history, and was part of the following season's Europa League adventure.

"I have to look back and say I have been very fortunate to have had the career I've had," said Britton, who is to become a club ambassador.

"To play as long as I have done and to have been on the journey I have with Swansea has been a privilege."