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Matildas star Sally Shipard calls time on her magnificent football career

Sally Shipard with Ellie Brush during her Canberra United career.

She leaves a legacy as one of Australia's greatest female footballers, but even Sally Shipard admits she's a "pretty complicated soul".

An Olympian at age 16, retired with an eating disorder at 21, a successful comeback to feature in two World Cups and a W-League championship, then retired again - this time for good - at 26.

Shipard relives the rollercoaster ride, telling her story from Washington DC, in the US, where she is on a "six-month sabbatical" supporting her partner and former Canberra United teammate, Lori Lindsey. Lindsey, 34, is playing with the Washington Spirit in the US Women's National Soccer League.

Sally Shipard and her partner Lori Lindsey.

"She was the first teammate I have ever fallen for,'' Shipard said.

"I have this thing with my football where I want it to remain professional and I don't want to go over that line, but with Lori I had no choice.

"It was going against my moral fibre in a sense with that professional barrier, but in the team situation it was quite easy just to be us and have respect for the team and from the team. It was pretty smooth sailing."

Sally Shipard was dogged by injuries throughout her career.

The latter part of Shipard's career hasn't been so smooth.

She retires with 62 appearances for the national team, including two World Cups, being part of the first Australian team to win an Asian Cup in 2011 and the Julie Dolan Medal as the best player in the W-League in the 2011-12 season to lead Canberra United to its maiden championship.

But a degenerative knee injury which limited her to a handful of games in the past two seasons forced Shipard's decision.

Shipard began her Matildas career at just 16.

Shipard began her Matildas career at just 16. Photo: Vince Caligiuri

After a couple of aborted attempts, Shipard made her much-awaited comeback in a match with the Newcastle Jets in February.

She scored a rare goal within the opening 15 minutes.

"I was advised [to retire] by our national team doctor about a year-and-a-half ago based on the fact my knees were degenerative,'' Shipard said.

''I feel like my knees could probably handle a hugely modified program, but it's too much of a mental battle for me.

''Some people are capable of it, but I knew it was my time to step away.''

Shipard is the perfect case case study for the opportunities football can provide.

At 15, she moved from her home in Wagga Wagga to study at The Hill Sports High in Sydney.

One of her teachers was Alen Stajcic, the now interim coach of the Australian Matildas.

"I was walking down the stairs as he was walking up, and he stopped me in my stride, and says, 'you're going to the Olympics','' Shipard said.

"It was such a huge achievement, but one I probably didn't expect to happen so quickly.

"Beyond that it's been a bit of a rollercoaster.''

In 2011, she bravely went public with her battle with bulimia in the hope her story would inspire others to get help after fighting her inner demons during her career.

Her year away from the sport, when she was 21, provided her the time to figure out if football was the influence for her sexuality.

"It turns out it was the way I felt,'' she said.

"When I returned home I was able to share that with my family.

''My family are amazing with anything I've thrown at them in my life.''

Retiring wasn't a decision Shipard made lightly.

Messages from current Matildas players Clare Polkinghorne and Elise Kellond-Knight and memories of that amazing Asian Cup triumph make Shipard wish for one last hurrah.

But ultimately, she is satisfied she has squeezed everything possible out of her power-packed career.

Shipard wants to remain involved in football and is passionate about her Chasing Leather project, which aims to pass on the lessons she has learnt into everyday life.

"I would love to run Chasing Leather clinics in Canberra and head back down to Wagga and give back to the community that helped me grow and prosper,'' Shipard said.

"I'm really excited about this fear of not feeling passionate about something beyond football and not feeling that natural high.

"I know I can achieve it through what I can see Chasing Leather becoming.''

Ajax Coach Frank de Boer has rejected recent approaches from Premier League pair Liverpool and

Ajax Coach Frank de Boer has rejected recent approaches from Premier League pair Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, the Daily Telegraph has reported his twin brother Ronald de Boer as claiming.

Tottenham’s approach was said to have come in January, when Spurs were searching for a replacement for Andre Villas-Boas, while Liverpool made the offer last year, Ronald de Boer told talkSport.

“Frank has already denied Liverpool and Tottenham. Tottenham wanted to take him in January, but Frank said no,” Ronald said. “He also said no to Liverpool last year. He thought he was still not ready and wanted to learn more.”

Ronald de Boer added however that his brother would eventually make the move to the Premier League and a partnership with current Netherlands Coach Louis van Gaal at Spurs has been mooted, as has the possibility of Frank de Boer replacing David Moyes at Manchester United.

“Now he's ready, though,” Ronald de Boer continued. “We'll have to wait and see (what offers he gets). It's important for Frank to get the right club otherwise he won't leave Ajax. He's very happy there.”

Frank de Boer has been Ajax Coach since 2010 and was previously an assistant coach with the Netherlands. He has won the Eredivisie three times since stepping into the dugout after claiming five Dutch titles as a player, and a La Liga title with Barcelona in 1999.

He made almost 700 appearances in his playing career, with Ajax, Barcelona, Galatasaray, Rangers and two Qatari teams, while Ronald also played for Ajax, Barcelona and Rangers, as well as Twente.

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Birmingham City won the League Cup in 2011 and were relegated

Birmingham City won the League Cup in 2011 and were relegated – would Sunderland fans be willing to pay that price for silverware?

The much-maligned League Cup is well overdue a dose of TLC this Sunday as Manchester City look to kick-start their fading quadruple hopes with a victory over underdogs Sunderland.

The Capital One Cup Final should be a competitive affair featuring a favourite for the title who will undoubtedly field the strongest team possible, against a Premier League team who are looking to crown their renaissance under Gus Poyet with the first silverware of the season.

Last year’s competition was layered with romance as rank minnows Bradford City in the bottom division of the Football League spectacularly reached the final to face Swansea City – a team who had made the journey from the bottom rung to the top flight in six years. However, the fact that two such teams reached the final highlighted the bigger teams not treating the competition with the respect it deserves.

Yet Manchester City’s path to Wembley has reflected the respect new boss Manuel Pellegrini treats every competition in his first season in British football. Case in point is the semi-final second leg with West Ham. With his team rolling into the game at Upton Park already with a massive 6-0 advantage, the Chilean boss sent out the biggest guns at his disposal to finish the job against the Hammers. West Ham didn’t stand a chance against the combined might of Sergio Aguero, Alvaro Negredo, Jesus Navas and Fernandinho.

This is especially revealing when you look at the fringe players to whom City could have given game-time to see out this dead rubber of a fixture, but chose not to. Players such as Jack Rodwell and Micah Richards, the former used sadly only as quota filler for English representation in any given City squad.

Sunderland can look back on their campaign this season with pride as their wins over Chelsea and Manchester United exhibited a desire that seemed to have been extinguished under former manager Paolo di Canio – the man who defines himself by his own pride and passion.

Poyet took over a club he remarked as being ‘very very dark and sad’ and has transformed them into a club with a real chance of survival. The nature of the bottom half of the Premier League this year is that every team from West Ham in 10th will fear relegation up until the last few games.

The Uruguayan arrived at the Black Cats when they had accrued just one point from their first three months, and were in real danger of replacing Derby County as the worst team in Premier League history. Poyet has steered them away from such depths and is now in charge of a team that has a real chance of survival.

It is refreshing, also, to read remarks from Poyet that he understands exactly why many Sunderland fans believe winning the League Cup is more important than survival – refreshing and heartening indeed. However, Birmingham City’s League Cup win in 2011 was the trigger for an appalling run of form that saw them drop out of the top flight.

Silverware though is a dream for fans, and many Sunderland supporters believe relegation is a price worth paying for a first trophy since 1973, despite Birmingham City’s struggles in the last three years.

That watershed final in 2011 between the Blues and Arsenal is also testament to the importance of the big sides winning a trophy. There are few greater millstones attached to Premier League sides than the ‘not won a trophy since 2005’ that droops around the neck of every Gooner.

Pellegrini knows the importance of that first piece of silverware to a new manager, and the way he approached the West Ham second leg is proof of that – to succeed and win trophies requires professionalism. That is why for every neutral who follows this Sunday’s game will feel their heart cheer for a Sunderland victory but their head plump for City to kick-start the Pellegrini era.

League One club Peterborough United will complete the emergency loan signing of Cardiff City defender

League One club Peterborough United will complete the emergency loan signing of Cardiff City defender Ben Nugent today (Thursday February 13).

Nugent, 21, has come through the academy at the south Wales club and has made 14 appearances for the senior side since making his debut in a 2-1 defeat against Northampton Town in a League Cup tie in August 2012.

The defender, who stands at 6ft 5in, spent the first half of the season on loan at Posh's League One rivals Brentford, where he made a handful of appearances.

Ironically, Nugent has already played and scored at London Road this season in a Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie in October, which the Bees lost 2-1.

His involvement in the competition means that he is ineligible for Peterborough's trip to Swindon Town in the JPT Southern Area final second leg on Monday, but could make his debut on Friday when Posh face Walsall as Darren Ferguson's side look to put daylight between them and the Saddlers in the play off places.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger backs FA panel after Yaya Toure verdict

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has sided with the FA's retrospective disciplinary system after they cleared Man City midfielder Yaya Toure.

The FA decided to take no action against Toure for an apparent kick at Norwich's Ricky van Wolfswinkel during the closing stages of Saturday's goalless draw at Carrow Road, an incident which was missed by the match officials.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, who views City as the title favourites, claimed not suspending Toure sent out the wrong message.

Wenger accepts the decisions of the independent panel may in some cases be difficult to understand, but believes in what they stand for.

"It is a decision we have to accept," said Wenger, whose side were knocked off the top of the Premier League by Chelsea after they were thrashed 5-1 at Liverpool.

"This decision is questioned, and people who make these decisions can answer these questions, I do not know why they made the decision.

"One positive thing is that this committee exists and that the players know that they can be punished even after the game, so that is very positive.

"After that, the decision is made by human beings and then you have to accept we will not always agree on the way the decisions are made.

"But it is a good thing that this committee and the whole (disciplinary) process exists."

The decision not to take action against the Ivory Coast star is a huge boost for City - he could have faced a three-match ban but the three-man panel of former elite referees which reviewed the incident did not unanimously believe it was an act of violent conduct.

That will come as a big relief to City boss Manuel Pellegrini as his club chase the Premier League and FA Cup trophies - including a home match against Chelsea in the cup this weekend.

Blues boss Mourinho, though, was less than impressed.

"If he is not suspended, the message is clear: the players can do what they want if the referee doesn't see," he said ahead of the panel's decision being made on Monday afternoon.

"If there's no suspension, the message is normally that, if the FA defends football, he'd have to be suspended.

"It's the same for everyone: if the referee doesn't see, I can do whatever.

"It doesn't matter about cameras or others seeing. I can do whatever I want."

Toure, arguably City's most influential player this season, will now be available for Wednesday's game against Sunderland, the Chelsea cup tie and the league fixture against Stoke.

Norwich boss Chris Hughton, meanwhile, claimed Toure did kick his player, though said it was a "minimal incident".

Van Wolfswinkel also gave his backing to the decision, writing on Twitter: "Good to see Toure not getting suspended. Players like him belong on the pitch! What happens at Carrow Road stays at Carrow Road.

"Things happen on the pitch. But we all enjoy watching him play. So get on with it and enjoy the football. That's what it's all about."

There was more good news for City on Monday, with Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri taking part in a training session after injuries.

Nick and Danny preview the weekend’s big Barclay’s Premier League matches including Arsenal’s

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