Kouta calls it a day
News
Kouta: a man who changed the game
Tue, Jul 31, 07 CARLTON champion Anthony Koutoufides has announced his retirement, ending a celebrated 278-game career.
Koutoufides, 34, said he had planned to retire at the end of the season, but a degenerative hip injury, aggravated in the 10-point loss to St Kilda on Saturday, forced him to retire early.
"It came as a shock to me, I wanted to play the last five games and to enjoy myself," Koutoufides said.
"It's been a very emotional two days, I didn't sleep very much last night.
"The last five years have obviously been the toughest in my footy career."
Koutoufides has battled injuries since earning Brownlow Medal favouritism in 2000, considered by many to be his finest year.
He won Carlton’s best and fairest award in 2001 but underwent a knee reconstruction at the end of that season and missed most of the following year.
Back and hamstring injuries wrecked the first half of his 2004 season, and he has missed six of 17 games this year.
Koutoufides retires as Carlton’s most celebrated son of the past 12 years. He starred in the Blues’ last premiership side in 1995 and captained the club after collecting the armband from current caretaker coach Brett Ratten and Andrew McKay in 2004 before handing over to Lance Whitnall this year.
He was Carlton’s best and fairest winner in 2001 and 2005, an All-Australian player in 1995 and 2000, and the club’s leading goalkicker in 1997.
Carlton vice-president and former teammate Stephen Kernahan called Koutoufides “one of the finest players of his eraâ€.
“Those 14 games (in mid-2000), I've never seen any other player in my time do the things Kouta did in those games,†Kernahan said.
"He's a giant of this footy club and a giant of the AFL.
"Everyone loves him, he's a fantastic humble champion."
In a Carlton FC statement Koutoufides said the club had been “a second home to me for most of my lifeâ€.
“I want to thank the club, the players and all the Carlton people for the wonderful support they have given me during my career,†he said. “I have been very lucky to have been a part of this great club.â€
The club said it would retire Koutoufides’ No.43 guernsey for the 2008 season and honour him with a lap of honour before Saturday’s round-18 clash with Collingwood.
Carlton CEO Greg Swann said the entire club was disappointed that Koutoufides’ career had been cut short.
“I have had the pleasure of working with Anthony this year and he is an outstanding person,†Swann said.
“Like everyone involved in football I have known how good a player he has been for many years and we can only imagine how his career may have been if he had not been cruelly cut down by injuries when he was in his prime.â€
Koutoufides originally considered a career in athletics before turning to football and working his way through Carlton's under-19s side.
He played for Carlton in the pre-season Foster's Cup in 1991 and made his senior debut the following year at the age of 19.
He was a state under-16 high jump champion, recording a better height at that level than Australian Olympic star Tim Forsyth.
another star leaves the game.....