Shawcross retires due to back injury after 16-year career
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Defender Ryan Shawcross is retiring after a 16-year career that ended last season with David Beckham’s Inter Miami in Major League Soccer. The 34-year-old central defender and the team say they have mutually terminated the contract agreed to last February. Shawcross appeared in 12 games last year. He injured his back following the Aug. 8 match against Nashville and had back surgery on Sept. 21. Shawcross was Stoke’s captain from the 2009-10 season through 2020. He scored 25 goals in 453 appearances, including 401 games in the Premier League and second-tier League Championship.