Former Republic of Ireland international goalkeeper Alan Kelly yesterday announced his retirement from the game after failing to overcome an injury sustained while training with Blackburn last October.

The 35-year-old, who played 34 times for his country and made nearly 500 first-team appearances during spells with five different English clubs, will take some time out to consider his options before making any decision on what to do now.

"I was involved in coaching with the academies at both Blackburn and Sheffield United and found it very fulfilling," he said yesterday, "so that's certainly an option. But I'm quite excited by some possibilities outside of football as well, so I'll think it over for a bit because I don't want to make the wrong decision only to realise it further down the line."

Kelly said he had suspected since early January the injury, to the ring finger on his right hand, might put an end to his career, but had continued to hope that after surgery he might recover sufficiently to play again.

"To be honest, though, I knew it might be a problem at the time because the finger got stuck in the turf and it took my full weight as I went over it. I dislocated it and ruptured the ligaments around the knuckle and had to have it completely reconstructed. Just to look at it now you can see there's a problem and being right handed is a factor too.

"It's a pity for it to end like this but Blackburn have been terrific about it and I have to say that in one way I'm excited to be on the brink of something new. I've never been one to dwell on things and it's no different now, I'm looking forward to finding a new challenge."

Kelly, whose father Alan also played in goal for Ireland, started his club career at Preston before moving to Sheffield United and then Blackburn. He also has loan spells at Birmingham City and Stockport County. He was highly regarded but injury hindered his progress at key points during his career and probably denied him the chance of establishing himself with a leading club.

He made his Ireland debut as a substitute in the 1991 win over Wales at Tolka Park and went on to become Jack Charlton's first choice between 1994 and '96. He regained the number one jersey from Shay Given for a spell during the early stages of the 2002 World Cup campaign and his heroics in the games away to Holland and Portugal were an important factor in Ireland qualifying for the tournament. He was a member of the squad for the 1994 and 2002 tournament finals and retired after the trip to Japan and Korea having made his last appearance on the international stage the previous year in a friendly game against Croatia.

"He was a brilliant pro and a great servant to football," said Packie Bonner yesterday,