Despite his indication that his retirement is COVID enforced, his interview with Newshub indicates that he wasn't happy with the club.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/sport/2021/09/a-league-departing-captain-stephen-taylor-not-feeling-love-from-wellington-phoenix-over-contract-extension.html
Taylor, 35, has put his decision down to family and the pressures of continuing his career under COVID-19 restrictions, but admits he might have stayed on, if the Phoenix had extended his contract into 2023.
"I tried and if we'd said that, it might be different now," he tells Newshub. "I've just got to understand that this is the football side of things and you've got to accept it.
"I had a good chat with them and they said 'let's see how you get on this year and if things go well, we'll see how you hold up bodywise'. That's when I started thinking I've really got to look beyond football now.
"When you don't get that kind of love any more, you've got to start looking - that's one of the reasons I've had to do what I've done."
"If you give me the second year, I can set and get a place out here, and plan for the future," says Taylor. "The one year I felt was like dangling the carrot - 'if you do alright, we might give you something'.
"I'm not an 18-year-old kid where you can dangle the carrot. I'd love to have been given that opportunity, but I guess the club have to do their business and I've got to respect that."