5 football legends who came out of retirement

Deciding when to retire is never easy but it’s something every player realizes when he’s reaching the end of his career. Some players have managed to play until the age of forty by being able to keep up tremendous fitness levels. Others have their careers end unceremoniously because of injury or illness.But sometimes players do feel they still have it in them to play and feel they ended their career prematurely. They then surprise everyone by deciding to return to the big time for one last hurrah. Not all of them turn out to be successful stints but here are five famous players who came out of retirement to once again don a jersey.

#1 Socrates - Garforth Town

Socrates is hailed as one of the best Brazilian midfielders to have graced the beautiful game. The tall midfielder was a delight to watch with his intricate backheels and graceful movement on the pitch. He was part of an extremely talented Brazilian squad which to many supporters surprise, failed to win the 1982 World Cup

The midfielder made 60 appearances for his country and played most of his club football with Corinthians and Botafogo. He announced his retirement after returning to Brazil following a short stint in Fiorentina.

But in 2004, at the young age of 50, he decided to come out of retirement, signing for Garforth town  in the Northern Counties East Football League in England. He signed as a player-coach for the minnows and made a single professional appearance against Tadcaster Albion coming on a substitute for the last 12 minutes of the game.

The Brazilian did realize after playing those 12 minutes that his age rally had caught up with him and decided to completely retire from the game after that.  Socrates sadly passed away in December of 2011 and the Garforth owner Simon Clifford paid tribute to the legend saying, “He showed great grace in playing for me. He took no money for playing” after the club was apparently close to bankruptcy.