Former Blues skipper David Norris ended his career on a dramatic note, netting a hat-trick for Lancaster City in his final match, a 4-3 Northern Premier League Premier Division defeat at FC United of Manchester on Saturday.
The 43-year-old had announced his intention to retire prior to the Dollies’ last game of the campaign and will now concentrate on his other role as a personal trainer, working largely with boxers and footballers.
Norris joined the Blues in January 2008 when he signed for £2.2 million from Plymouth, becoming one of the early big-money additions of the Marcus Evans era.
He was made captain by Roy Keane and continued to wear the armband under Paul Jewell before moving on to Portsmouth on a free transfer in the summer of 2011 having made 114 starts and four sub appearances, scoring 16 goals.
Norris went on to play for Leeds, hometown club Peterborough, Yeovil and Blackpool, before dropping into non-league with then-National League North Salford in 2017 and later featuring for Shaw Lane, Boston United, where he had started his career, and Lancaster, who he joined in 2019.
Elsewhere, former Blues keeper Bartosz Bialkowski, 36, has announced his departure from Millwall after five years with the Lions.