Neale Fenn has announced his retirement from football with immediate effect due to personal reasons. The 33-year-old has played a leading role in Dundalk’s success this season as he has missed just one of the club’s 30 competitive games. The London-born striker began his professional career at Tottenham Hotspur before going on to play with Leyton Orient, Norwich City, Swindon Town, Lincoln City, Peterborough United, Waterford United, Cork City, where he won his first league medal in 2005, and Bohemians, where he won the League & Cup double in 2008 before adding a third league title and a League Cup a year later.

Calling time
Fenn, who started out at Edmonton Rovers and Ridgeway Rovers, made his full debut in the senior game against Manchester United at Old Trafford in an FA Cup tie in 1997, and he has chosen to end his time in the game after rescuing a draw for Dundalk with a 95th-minute header in his last appearance for the Lilywhites against Galway United at Terryland Park last Sunday evening. “I wouldn’t say it is something I decided on too long ago,” the former Republic of Ireland U21 international told dundalkfc.com in an exclusive interview. “I’d say over the last three to four weeks my family and I decided that now was the time to call it a day.”

Coaching focus
Fenn began his coaching career recently with his ‘Just 4 Strikers’ school and he also expressed his wish to focus more on that. “I’ve been doing a little bit of that as well and that’s what I want to do now, I want to concentrate on that,” he said. “I coach kids at the moment but I’ll do my A-Licence next year and still be around football. I like coaching. I’d say if I look into it, maybe management might be an option down the line, but just at the moment, just the business and coaching kids is my focus.” The skilful forward, renowned for his exquisite first touch, admitted that he has enjoyed his last season in football and that he expects to miss the game once his decision sinks in. “I’ve enjoyed it, it has been really good here,” he said. “It’s nothing to do with the club why I’m retiring. They have been great to me, the manager, ‘Hats’, all the players have been brilliant and everybody in the office. It’s just at a point where I just couldn’t go on anymore. I want to concentrate on the coaching but it has been brilliant up here.

No U-turn
“At the moment, I don’t feel as if I’m going to miss the game,” Neale, who moved to Ireland when signing for Waterford from Peterborough during the 2003 campaign, added. “But obviously in a month’s time I think I’ll say I really miss it and I’ll be itching to get back in. But I’ll have the coaching and I’ll still be playing a little bit of football, so that will keep me going.” And he insists, despite being just 33, that there will be no U-turn. “No,” he said. “I think once you finish you might as well finish rather than making all sorts of comebacks. At the moment, I can’t see myself coming back at all.” And finally, the 5ft9 striker picked out his overall career highlight and his best memory from his time in Ireland. “I think probably playing at White Hart Lane is the highlight,” he said. “I supported Spurs when I was a young lad and I always wanted to play there and I managed to do it, so I’d have to say that. In Ireland, it’s probably winning the league with Cork. We probably weren’t the favourites to win it but we had a good season and a good squad and manager.” And he reserved his final most memorable moment for his time with Dundalk. “My favourite goal was probably my one this year against Rovers,” he concluded. “It wasn’t a great goal but it was just good to score on TV at their ground and we went on a good run then.”

Dundalk manager Ian Foster has praised Neale Fenn for his contribution to the club this season and has wished him all the best in the future, while strike partner Fahrudin Kuduzovic also echoed those comments. Fenn has missed just one of Dundalk’s 30 competitive games this season, scoring five times in 27 starts, but the three-time league winner has decided to call it a day for personal reasons.

‘Great attitude’
“I understand Neale’s decision,” Foster told dundalkfc.com. “He has been brilliant for me. He has been a breath of fresh air coming into the football club. He has got a great attitude and you can see why he has worked at the levels that he has in his career, and I have got nothing but admiration for Neale. He came to me a couple of weeks ago and said that he was thinking of retiring, and I totally understood where he was coming from. I’m pleased that he did in the transfer window, which gave me the opportunity to replace him, but that’s the kind of lad that he is. He has been first class for me, and it is fitting that his last touch in professional football was a goal, and obviously I wish him all the best in the future.

Apt replacements
“It was surprising when he told me but, as I said, I totally understood his reasons,” Ian added. “We move on and we move forward. Neale will come down to the UCD game and we’ll get him onto the pitch at half-time. I think he deserves that, and, like I say, I hope he does really well in anything that he tries to do in the future. Neale has been fantastic for us, but we’ve managed to bring in Steven Lennon and Matthew Tipton, so we have got very apt replacements for Neale. They’re decent strikers with great qualities, the pair of them, so I don’t think we’ll be weakened up front. Neale has been great, but it’s an opportunity now for Steven and Matthew to come in and show what they’re about.”

Faz disappointment
Meanwhile, Kuduzovic has expressed his shock at Fenn’s departure. “Personally, I’ve really enjoyed working and playing with him,” Faz said. “He has set up a few of my goals. I have loved playing with him, because very rarely I think you get a player anywhere that can see things the way he sees things and put a pass in exactly the right place. I’m obviously going to miss playing with him on the field, and off the field as well he was a good character to have around. I think he will be missed, but it gives Steven and Matthew an opportunity to show everybody what they are all about. We’ll all miss him and all the players want to wish him all the best in the future.”