Former England and Manchester United goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain has announced her retirement at the age of 37.

The 50-cap player said after giving birth to her daughter Emilia in January and leaving United in June she spent pre-season with another WSL club but realised returning to the game would be harder than she thought.

“As pre-season went on it became clear to me that it wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought it may have been and not physically, not on the pitch, but everything that goes with it was a lot more difficult than I had anticipated,” she said on Twitter.

“Deciding to not sign for that club and to retire from football was not an easy decision to make. But it’s the decision that I think is the right thing to do at the right time and I can look back on my career with pride.”

And she went on to thank players, coaches, family, friends and the fans for everything they had done for her in her career.

“Keep supporting women’s football, keep being passionate, keep being you because you’re what makes the game so special.”

Chamberlain is now doing a masters in sporting directorship, working with the media and looking for ways to give back to the game.

In her playing career she helped United gain promotion into the WSL in 2019 and won the FA Cup with Arsenal in 2014.

As well as playing for Untied and Arsenal, Chamberlain also had spells with Chelsea, Birmingham, Bristol Academy, Liverpool and the Vancouver Whitecaps.