Schalke striker Simon Terodde has announced that he will retire at the end of the season, bringing to an end a 16-year career in professional football.
On his decision, Terodde said: “After 16 years as a professional footballer, a new phase of my life is now beginning. I felt that now is the time to end my active career. I would like to thank everyone – fellow players, coaches, responsible persons, staff, employees and fans. Schalke 04 is a special club and will remain so for me.”
The 36-year-old has had a journeyman career but an interesting one in that he has tried to help several teams gain promotion back to the Bundesliga with his goalscoring efforts. Terodde’s goals have fired VfB Stuttgart, 1.FC Köln and Schalke all back to the Bundesliga whilst he was unable to help Hamburg, Bochum or Union Berlin.
This knack has seen Terodde become the all-time record scorer in the 2.Bundesliga currently with 177 goals. However, the odd thing about Terodde is that he has never been able to replicate anything close to his feat in the Bundesliga. During his four different spells in Germany’s top division, his best tally has been five goals.
This season the striker has still been a prominent fixture in Schalke’s starting 11s but his goalscoring output has drastically declined, however, he is still Schalke’s second top scorer of the season, but this is more telling of Die Königsblaus poor season.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
