Former Premier League player retires from football just two weeks after joining European club

Former Watford star Craig Cathcart has decided to retire just weeks after signing for Belgian side Kortrijk at the age of 34.

Cathcart left Watford after nine years of service at the end of last season when his contract expired, where he made 262 appearances.

After looking for a new club throughout the summer, the defender eventually penned a one-year deal with Kortrijk.

The decision was announced by the club on September 5, days after the transfer window came to a close.

But exactly two weeks later and the Northern Irish star has decided to retire from football altogether, according to Belgian reporter Sacha Tavolieri.

The centre-back has never made an appearance for Kortrijk and it’s suggested that Cathcart could not motivate himself to play any further part in the sport.

It comes after an extensive career where he played most of his football with Blackpool and Watford.

He signed for the Tangerines in 2010 after they earned a shock promotion to the Premier League under Ian Holloway.

The centre-back starred for them 30 times in the 2010/11 season but he could not stop them getting relegated, though he did hang around for another three years before leaving in 2014.

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That was when Cathcart signed for Watford, in the Championship at the time, helping them back to the Premier League in his first season at the club.

He would go on to play another eight years at Vicarage Road, six of those in the top tier.

Cathcart started his career at Manchester United, even earning their prestigious Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award for the 2006/07 season.

Several players have won the award and gone on to become superstars including Marcus Rashford, Paul Scholes and Wes Brown.

However, he did not play a single game for the Red Devils, though he did star alongside United star Jonny Evans multiple times for Northern Ireland with 73 caps.

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