Fomer Watford goalkeeper Richard Lee is to hang up his gloves at the end of this season.
The 32-year-old Brentford stopper announced his decision yesterday but revealed on his website he had decided when to call it a day in September.
Explaining his reasons for the decision, Lee wrote on dickielee.net: “Quite simply, I peaked and don’t have the confidence that I can now surpass that peak. As a result football to me now equates to frustration and often pain.”
A product of the Hornets’ youth system, Lee said he was “very proud of my career” but revealed he had “one big disappointment”.
“I’m a deep thinker, often to the point of self-sabotage, this has been apparent in many aspects of my life but in particular in regards to my football career,” Lee continued.
“I often limited myself without an awareness that I was doing so, I unconsciously manipulated ways back to the bench at times when low on confidence or fearful of a threat to my ego. The bench which although without highs offered a sanctuary of safety, out of the firing line but somewhere that ultimately wasn’t fulfilling.
“Quite simply I didn’t play enough games of football.
“I’d like to think I’ll be well remembered at both Watford FC and Brentford FC but with this limiting behaviour I would never have scaled the heights of being remembered as a ‘great’ – for that reason I know there could have been so much more.”
Lee made his Hornets debut in the 2002/03 season and went on to make 110 appearances in all competitions before leaving Vicarage Road in the summer of 2010.
A goalkeeper who forged a reputation for his penalty-saving ability but whose career was disrupted by injuries, Lee then joined Brentford and has played 87 times for them in league and cup.
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