A former Crystal Palace favourite has confirmed he will retire at the end of this season. Former Eagles striker Dwight Gayle has enjoyed a very respectable career, bursting onto the scene late and taking an untraditional route to the Premier League.
Gayle played his way up through the leagues, and his career really took off when he signed for Premier League Palace from Peterborough United in 2013. That was a club-record signing for the Eagles at the time, worth £4.5 million plus add-ons. The striker went on to score 15 goals in 64 league game, helping the club reach the FA Cup final.
The pacey frontman joined Newcastle United following their relegation in 2016, and for a reported fee of around £10million. Gayle scored 34 goals in 113 league appearances. Spells with Stoke City and Derby County followed, and Gayle will finish his career aged 35 at Hibernian – his 11th club.
Hibs will be playing in Europe next season after finishing in third place, and ahead of their final game of the season against Rangers on Saturday, Gayle said, as reported by the Daily Record: “Will Europe make me consider playing on? No but I’m going to come to the games hopefully. I’ve spoken to a few people about coming with my little man and hopefully bringing him to some of the games abroad, which I’m really excited “It was always where I was. The most important thing for me is my family and spending time with them. I think while they’re young it’s really important that I do that. But I’m absolutely buzzing for the club and to be involved in a team that’s been able to get that opportunity and give that to the fans, to hopefully have the group stages to look forward to. It brings me nothing but pride to be a part of that really.
“One of the big reasons for coming up here was to be involved in something. The way it’s gone has made it even more special, the fact that we were struggling at the start – you could see that around the club it wasn’t too happy. But I’m leaving it now in a better position and with the buzz around the club looking forward with a great core to the group – and I’m sure the boys will push on from that and I think the start of the season will be very bright.”about. But I’m still fixated on retiring and getting back to my family.
On his plans after retirement, Gayle added: “I’m going to go back down south and plan to go into agency work.
“It’s something I want to do to help other players and be involved in football. It’s what I love. It also gives me a bit more of time to spend with the kids for the day-to-day, school drop-ins and stuff like that. So I’m really excited to do that. It allows me to come back and pretend I’m scouting players here and gives me an excuse to come and watch the Europa games.”
