Keith Higgins has no regrets over calling time on his 16-year inter-county football career recently.

The Mayo legend won eight Connacht SFC titles and four All-Star awards during a stellar career in the green and red jersey. He made his Mayo senior debut in 2005, and captained Mayo to the All-Ireland U21 title a year later. The Ballyhaunis clubman was also Young Player of the Year in 2006.

He also played in six All-Ireland SFC finals in total, including the 2016 replay, and was part of the Mayo squad for last month’s decider but didn't feature against Dublin. One of the best defenders ever to grace the game, the 35-year-old reflected on how he came to the decision to retire, when speaking on RTÉ 2FM's Game On this evening.

"I'd made the decision about two weeks ago and spoke to James [Horan] about it," Higgins said.

"I'm well happy with the decision at this stage. That's the way it goes. Time moves on. We just have to get over these things I suppose. I was lucky to get so long, to get a good run at it.

"It was more of a case of looking back on the season, looking at how the body was, and then seeing if I could get back to the level I wanted to get to. I just didn't think it was going to be possible and I didn't want to go through the year fighting a losing battle and getting frustrated with things."

Tweet

Most Read Stories