Football Great Chris Judd Announces Retirement

Football great Chris Judd has announced his retirement following a career-ending rupture to his ACL.

The Carlton Captain and two-time Brownlow medalist was expected to call it a day at the conclusion of the 2015 season, but was forced to sign off earlier after injuring himself against Adelaide over the weekend.

It was his 279th game and his 145th for Carlton.

A repair of the anterior cruciate ligament requires a knee reconstruction and a 12-month recovery.

Judd’s AFL career began with the West Coast Eagles, where he won his first Brownlow count in 2004 and earned a premiership as captain in 2006.

He collected his second Brownlow Medal in 2010 for Carlton.

In his farewell statement, Judd revealed he was thankful for having chosen Carlton as the club at which he could end his career.

"As I said to the players, I will never be slagging them off in the media if they have a crappy loss and I will never be too far away,” he said.

“I am sure I will have a connection with this place and West Coast as well for the rest of my life.”

Earlier this morning, The Age journalist Jon Pierik tweeted a photo of Judd and his family in the wake of the announcement.

Judd now plans to transition into small business ownership, but not before spending time with his family.

"When I am playing with the kids and I know I have a game in two days’ time and things start to get tight, it is hard to be as present as you would like to be with the kids sometimes," he said.

"Not having to worry about those sorts of things, once the knee is healed, we will be able to play rough stuff footy and I won't have in the back of my mind the fact I have to get up for something else in a couple of days’ time.”