Former Celtic midfielder Tom Rogic has announced his retirement at the age of 30 to focus on his family after revealing his wife is expecting twins following "struggles and heartache with fertility treatment".
The ex-Australia international, who earned 53 caps for his country, joined the Hoops in 2013 from Central Coast Mariners and spent nine trophy-laden years at Parkhead before moving to West Brom in 2022.
During his time with Celtic, Rogic made 271 appearances for the club and helped them win six Scottish Premiership titles, five Scottish Cups and five League Cups.
In calling time on his professional career in an emotional Instagram post, Rogic reflected on his achievements and also opened up on the fertility struggles he and his wife have faced over the last seven years and said he would be "forever grateful" for the support and help they received from Celtic.
"After careful consideration I have made the decision to retire from professional football," said Rogic, who returned to Australia after being released by West Brom this summer.
"I have always been rather private with things in my personal life but I feel given the significance, I think it is important for people to understand why and how I have made my decision.
"Throughout the past seven years my wife and I have been on an immensely challenging journey with fertility issues. After years of trying and many failed rounds of IVF, my wife and I were fortunate enough to welcome the birth of our daughter in 2021.
"I have loved every minute of being a dad and consider it my greatest achievement in life.
"After experiencing some more struggles and heartache with fertility treatment, we have recently received the amazing news that our family is growing and we will be expecting twins in 2024.
"Given our past and how hard we have fought for this, along with the challenges that will come with having twins and a two-year-old now seems like the right time to give my focus and attention to what is the most important thing in my life - my family.
"I feel very lucky to have had a career where I spent the majority of my time playing at Celtic, one of the biggest clubs in the world, playing European football, winning many trophies and playing in front of 60,000 fans each week. I have also been lucky enough to represent my country with the Socceroos on over 50 occasions and experienced playing in major international tournaments.
"I feel very lucky to have formed some wonderful friendships through football and experienced so many special moments together. I would also like to thank Peter Lawwell and Dermot Desmond. Without their help all of this would not have been possible.
"Through Peter and Dermot, I was put in direct contact with one of the world's leading medical experts, which eventually led to my wife and I being placed at the clinic that would give us the best chance possible to start a family. I will be forever grateful.
"To the managers who supported and guided me through some tough times, I'd like to say a big thank you to Brendan Rodgers, Neil Lennon, John Kennedy and Ange Postecoglou.
"Indeed I would like to thank everyone in football who has given me such great opportunity throughout my career to be part of the game I love."
"He will always be deemed here as a Celtic great" - Brendan Rodgers
Hoops manager Brendan Rodgers paid tribute to the "Celtic great" after his announcement.
Rodgers said: "I was sad, I have to say, when I saw the news. I haven’t spoken to Tom yet but when I saw it, 30 years of age is still so young in the modern game.
"But knowing Tom as I do, I know family meant everything to him and when you read his script of the reasons why, then I totally understand that.
"In terms of what he gave as a football player, in my time here he was absolutely amazing. You talk about big moments, big contributions, big goals, that normally defines the best players. Throughout his time here, certainly when I was here, he produced all of that.
"His contribution in my time was second to none. He was an absolute joy to work with.
"He is clearly very much family-oriented, which is nice to see. Football is our life, it’s our passion, but it’s not everything. Family is most important. And for him as a young father to spend more time with his family, that was also a priority for him.
"It’s sad that he has bowed out at this stage of his career, however I hope he finds the happiness and he has left behind many great memories as a young footballer.
"He will always be deemed here as a Celtic great."
Watch Manchester United v Galatasaray in the Champions League tonight from 7pm live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app
Watch the Sports Direct FAI Cup semi-finals, Galway United v Bohemians (Saturday 2.30pm) and Cork City v St Patrick's Athletic (Sunday 2.30pm) on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player and follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
