Johnny Mullins and Cheltenham Town have parted company by mutual consent with the defender having made the decision to retire from full-time football.
The 33-year-old, who joined the Robins in May 2018, made 24 appearances in all competitions for the club during the 2018/19 season.
He will now pursue new opportunities outside of the full-time game after a long and successful career that’s seen him amass over 500 professional appearances.
“I want to look towards the next chapter of my life, spend a bit more time with my family, and see what happens,” Mullins said on announcing his retirement from the full-time game.
“I’ve had a long career. When I started when I was younger you have all these dreams of what you’d like to achieve – I didn’t quite make it to the Champions League final or the World Cup final but I enjoyed my run. I think now with the age I’m at I feel like I’m ready for another challenge and some opportunities that are coming to me from outside of football. I want to see where I can go further and put my career in the box – I really enjoyed it and want to move onto the next chapter.
“Whenever I finished I wanted it to be on my terms. That’s how it’s happened and I couldn’t be more excited about the next part of my life. I look back on my career and my time at Cheltenham with fond memories. I wish the team, the manager and the club all the success in the world and I hope they can push on next season and be where they deserve to be, especially the way the team finished the season.
“I’ve been fortunate to play in some very good teams under some really good managers and with some really good players. I’ll look back on my football career with a lot of pride and I’ve taken a lot of joy out of the people that I’ve met. If I started thanking people it would be endless. So many people have contributed and helped me along the way that I couldn’t thank enough if I tried – from family, to coaches, to friends and I’ve met a lot of wonderful people along the way. I’m sure there will be parts of me that will miss it, I know I’ll miss it as it’s been my life since I was six years old, but it’s time for the next stage and hopefully I’ve got a lot more years in front of me and I look forward to trying to be a success in my next venture.”
Starting his career in the youth system at Reading, Mullins enjoyed two lengthy loan spells at Kidderminster Harriers in consecutive seasons where his impressive showings saw him signed permanently by Mansfield Town.
He represented the Stags for two years in the League between 2006 and 2008, going onto join Stockport County where he again spent two seasons, taking over as club captain.
A transfer to Rotherham United followed where he won the first of three promotions in his career into League One. He moved onto Oxford United following a loan spell in 2013, again helping his employers gain promotion to League One, while also captaining the U’s to a Football League Trophy final at Wembley Stadium in 2016.
He joined Luton Town in the summer of 2016 where he capped a hat-trick of League Two promotions, helping the Hatters claim a place in League One at the end of the 2017/18 campaign before making the move to the Jonny-Rocks Stadium.
Everyone at Cheltenham Town would like to wish Johnny all the best with his future and thank him for his time and service in his time at the club.