Former Saints striker Peter Crouch has announced his retirement from football at the age of 38.

Crouch joined Saints from Aston Villa for £2.5m in July 2004 and scored 16 goals in 33 appearances in his only season at the club.

Despite his impressive tally he was unable to help keep the club in the Premier League as they were relegated at the end of the campaign.

This led to Crouch being snapped up by Liverpool in a £7m deal on a four-year contract.

Crouch made his English league debut in 2000 at QPR and went on to play for nine clubs, including Liverpool, Portsmouth, Tottenham and Stoke before spending the second half of last season at Burnley.

He made his England debut against Colombia in May 2005 and went on to play 42 times for the Three Lions, scoring 22 goals.

He confirmed his retirement on Twitter, writing: "After a lot of deliberation this summer I have decided to retire from football! Our wonderful game has given me everything.

"I'm so thankful to everyone who helped me get there and to help me stay there for so long.

"If you told me at 17 I'd play in World Cups, get to a Champions League final, win the FA Cup and get 100 @premierleague goals I would have avoided you at all costs.

"It's been an absolute dream come true."