Gutted by this announcement for the second time. Only question I have is why he did not do it in November. Was he told that he would not get called up for the Japan game so thought better to retire on his own terms, rather then do a David Beckham etc.
As an aside, I really wish he did not miss the games that he did in '08 and '09 as that would have given him the outright appearance record which is still held by Mr Sumner, which Steve will hold on to far a lot longer now (I also get the feeling that Wood will eventually claim one if, not both records).