A founding member of the Airdrie Irish Football Club is retiring after 24 years of playing the sport.

Matt Squires, who played fullback for the Irish the last 3 seasons, announced his retirement recently saying it was tough, but the right decision to make.

"This is my 24th season playing football. It's a good time to retire. I faced knee surgery in 2015 and I wanted to give myself one more season after rehab just to kind of leave the field on my terms not so much on injury."

The injuries however, are not the primary reason that Squires is deciding to call it a career.

Matt Squires with his four kids after a game in Calgary last season (Photo Courtesy: Matt Squires)

"I have four little ones. I had a recent one that was just born and she's turning a year old in a couple weeks. Spend some more time with my family. I owe it to my wife, she's been very supportive of me being gone on weekends and nights playing ball. It's a good time for me to strap up the cleats and focus more on management of the organization."

Squires won't be walking away from Football entirely as he will remain as President of the Irish and says he has high aspirations for the future.

"My end goal is to take it all the way. I'd love to see them in the AFL final, to battle for a national championship, that's a big dream of almost everybody on the executive. I want to see the team grow. I'd love to see more fans in the stands, I'd love to see us be a very good spectacle in Airdrie for people to see some real good quality football, to enjoy the sport."

The Irish finished the regular season with a .500 record and made the playoffs for the first time in their 3 year history. Squires who was a pivotal part of Airdrie's induction in the Alberta Football League says that's one of the best memories he has.

"This being my last season, it was great to see the Irish make the playoffs for the very first time and to finish with a .500 record."

In his 24 year football career, Squires played for several teams in Alberta including the Calgary Wolfpack and the University of Calgary Dinos. He also took a turn playing professional Rugby in Victoria.

Several members of the team will take part in the AFL All Star ame on September 23rd, with the team holding their annual Awards Banquet in mid October.

 

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