Neil Taylor, a former defender for Wales and Swansea City, has declared his retirement from the game.

Although the 33-year-old had stints with Wrexham, Aston Villa, and Middlesbrough, he will be most known for his time spent with the Swans and wearing the national jersey.

After relocating from the Racecourse to the then-Liberty Stadium in 2010, Taylor played 179 games for Swansea over his six and a half years in SA1.

Under Brendan Rodgers, he soon established himself as a regular as the Swans won promotion to the Premier League in 2011. However, he was not present for the historic 4-2 victory against Reading at Wembley because he was given a red card in the first leg of the play-off semi-final against Nottingham Forest.

He kept up his impressive play throughout the team’s inaugural season in the top division, and he was a member of Great Britain’s Olympic team in 2012. However, a bad ankle injury at the beginning of the next season cruelly prevented him from taking part in the Swans’ run for the League Cup.

The following year, though, he would get the opportunity to play football in Europe as he and Ben Davies fought it out for the left-back position in Europa League games against Malmo, Petrolul Ploesti, Kuban Krasnodar, St Gallen, Valencia, and Napoli.

During the 2014–15 season, Taylor was almost constant for the Swans under Garry Monk, helping them finish eighth in the Premier League. He also found some of his best form during the campaign.

He had also solidified his status as a Wales regular by this point, and he was a member of Chris Coleman’s team when they broke their 58-year wait to qualify for a major event.

Throughout the Euro 2016 finals, Taylor would start each and every game. He is most remembered for scoring in Wales’ 3-0 victory over Russia in Toulouse, which guaranteed a position in the knockout stages.

The unheralded run of Wales saw Taylor miss a Beyonce concert he had purchased tickets for. The Dragons would go all the way to the semi-finals before being defeated by eventual champions Portugal.

Halfway through the next season, Taylor’s stay with the Swans would come to an end when he transferred to Aston Villa in January 2017.

He would play a part in the Villans’ victory over Derby in the 2019 play-off final at Wembley, taking the team and himself back to the Premier League.

The defender, who briefly played for Middlesbrough the previous season, has already begun the process of obtaining his coaching qualifications.

Having played for 377 professional clubs and earned 43 caps for Wales, he hangs up his boots.

All of us at Swansea City wish Neil all the best in his future endeavors and express our gratitude for his part in creating a really remarkable chapter in our team’s history.