End of the road for legend Joyce

Galway double All-Ireland winner and three time GAA All Star Pádraic Joyce has announced his retirement from inter-county football.

Joyce was the last player left still playing from the Galway team that won the All-Ireland in 1998, ending a 32-year famine in the process. Joyce scored the crucial goal in the final that day against Kildare.

He won his second All-Ireland three years later in 2001, and was outstanding in the final against Meath, scoring 0-10 in a remarkable individual performance.

"I can't go on playing forever. I gave it some thought as other lads called a halt in recent years, but decided to persevere. But now the time is right to get out.

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"I have been very fortunate to have played with some great teams at club, schools, college, inter-county and international level. I have also been blessed to have had some great managers, so I can have no complaints," he said.

Joyce made his championship debut for Galway in May 1998, coming onto the senior team at the same time as a number of other young talents such as Michael Donnellan, Declan Meehan and John Divilly. They had all been part of the famous St. Jarlath's College Hogan Cup winning team of 1994.

The injection of that new blood, combined with some of the more established names in the Galway team at the time, sparked a glorious new era for the Tribesmen at the turn of the millennium, but their star dwindled over the last decade, as one by one, the key men from those triumphs ended their Galway careers.

In the last few seasons, Galway's championship performances have been particularly poor, but Joyce kept going despite the falling standards.

His last game for Galway came back in July when he came on as a substitute in his side's Round 2 Qualifier defeat to Antrim in Casement Park.

Joe Bergin and Matthew Clancy both announced their retirement from the Galway team earlier this year, meaning that with Joyce's departure, there are no All-Ireland winners left in the current Galway panel.

The 35-year-old has not yet decided if he will continue on with his club Killererin, but it is possible that he will retire from club duty also, due to work commitments.