Former Celtic captain Scott Brown announces retirement

Celtic legend Scott Brown has confirmed his retirement from football at the age of 36.

The former Celtic midfielder left his player-coach role at Aberdeen just nine months into his two-year deal in March "to focus on his coaching development" and said he would take some time to consider his next step.

Despite Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou opening the door for a potential return for Brown to Parkhead, Brown has confirmed that he has hung up his boots in order to take greater steps towards management.

Brown told Record Sport: "It's been a very difficult decision to call time on my playing career but I'll be 37 next month and I feel the time is right for me to announce that I'm retiring in order to focus fully on becoming a manager.

"It's the end of one chapter but the start of a new one and I'm excited about what the future might hold.

Obviously I will cherish some amazing moments from my time and none better than winning so many trophies during my years at Celtic. So I'm delighted that the club is now about to celebrate winning the title back.

"It was always an honour for me going out there as captain, knowing the lads were listening to you in that huddle, with 50,000 fans behind us wanting us to do our best