Full-time for Jefferson

JOURNEYMAN HANGS UP FOOTIE BOOTS AFTER INCREDIBLE 51 CLUBS

- WILL SCHOFIELD

JEFFERSON Louis can pinpoint the exact moment he knew his time as a footballer was up.

It was when he was asked to take a penalty - and handed it away instead.

He was playing for his final club, London-based Thame United, when he decided to quit. His team-mates in the Southern League Division One Central side were calling on him to take a spot-kick.

Louis, 46, explains: "There was a player that had taken the penalty the week before and missed. And the boys threw the ball to me and said 'Jeff take the penalty'. I knew by then, when I handed the ball away, it was my time.

"I've passed the responsibility to someone else and it told me a lot about myself because it's not about my ego anymore. I've passed the responsibility to allow him to redeem himself from last week by uplifting him."

It shows how far Louis has come since the start of his career, at local club Risborough Rangers. In 1996, he says he "didn't understand that football comes with a lot of ups and downs."