Drogheda United midfielder Sean Thornton retires with immediate effect

Drogheda United midfielder Sean Thornton has announced his retirement from professional football with immediate effect.

The midfielder joined his hometown club in 2015 following a career that saw him play in England and Wales.

Thornton’s career in the UK began at Tranmere Rovers in 2001 before he moved to Sunderland, where he scored nine goals in 49 games, making 11 appearances in the Premier League in the 2002/03 season.

He then moved to Doncaster Rovers in 2005, where he would stay for two years before joining Leyton Orient, where he made just short of 100 appearances, bringing his number of Football League appearances to over 200.

Thornton left Orient in 2010, moving to Wales where he would have spells with Aberystwyth Town, Conwy Borough and Bala Town.

He then returned to Ireland in 2015 to play for his hometown club. Despite Drogheda being relegated in the 2015 season, Thornton signed back with the Boynesiders the following year in the First Division.

It would prove to be a successful season for Drogheda as they earned promotion with a 3-2 aggregate play-off victory over Wexford Youths with Thornton scoring the penalty in the second half to win the tie for Drogheda.

Thornton again re-signed with Drogheda ahead of this season and went on to score one goal in seventeen appearances in all competitions, the last appearance coming in a 2-0 defeat to Finn Harps a fortnight ago.