From Coagh United to scoring at Manchester City: How Stuart Dallas is hoping his journey can inspire others as he opens up on relief at announcing decision to retire

The 32-year-old began his career with Coagh United and Crusaders before moving to Brentford in 2012, where he helped the Bees secure promotion to the Championship.

The midfielder then moved to Leeds in August 2015 for a fee of £1.3million and went on to make 266 appearances for the Yorkshire club, scoring 28 goals.

He was an important part of the Leeds side that earned promotion to the Premier League in 2019-20 and Dallas played every top-flight fixture for the club the following season.

Dallas represented Northern Ireland 62 times, scoring three goals, and was part of the squad which reached the round of 16 at Euro 2016 in France.

However, a serious knee injury sustained in April 2022 against Manchester City cost him two years of action, resulting in his decision to retire from football earlier this month after sustaining “irreparable damage”.

“I hope it can but it was something I’ve never really thought about when I was playing,” said Dallas on his journey to stardom being an inspiration for others to potentially follow.

“Now that I’ve finished when I look at my journey I hope it can inspire people and for kids who don’t get a chance at a younger age and have to wait that bit longer and use the Irish League as a stepping stone.

"I know the JD Academy is in place now that gives young players a better platform. When I was coming through I didn’t have that. Hopefully people can look at my journey to never give up.

“I’ve known for a while about retiring and I tried everything I could. We tried everything we could at the club and with the surgeon involved but there comes a time when you have to accept it.

"I never gave up hope but I knew at the start of the journey how serious the injury was. That doesn’t make it easier when the decision needs to be made.

“I’ve known for a few weeks now but we wanted to give it one last chance but that didn’t work out.

“My body wouldn’t let it get me to where I needed to get to. I’m 33 this week but even if I was 21 or 22 even with the seriousness of the injury it was impossible to get back from.”

Dallas was presented to the Leeds United fans on Saturday in recognition for his services to the Elland Road club and he admits he has been taken aback by the tributes headed his way, even though going public has brought a sense of “a relief”.

He added: “It’s been a stressful couple of weeks to be honest but now that it is out in the open I feel a bit of relief.

“Obviously the decision was really hard but I know myself it was the right decision and I’m excited for what the future holds and looking forward to it.

"I said to my wife the other day I didn’t realise as many people liked me or that I had made an impact on as many people and I genuinely mean that.

"Even throughout the two years I’ve been out the messages that I’ve had have been incredible.”