Eugene Magee has announced his retirement from international hockey.
The 33-year old midfielder is Ireland's most capped men's player with 295 appearances on the international stage, scoring 60 times along the way.
Magee was a member of Ireland's historic side that qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games. His career highlight came in Rio de Janeiro when he scored Ireland's first in a narrow 3-2 defeat to eventual bronze medalists Germany.
His final appearance came in Ireland's cruel sudden death defeat to Canada which cost Mark Tumilty's side a place at the 2020 Games in Tokyo.
Tumilty is a former clubmate of Magee at Banbridge and has described him as "a fantastic servant to Irish Hockey, [having] played a key role in the success of the team over the last decade. Eugene will rightly be regarded as one of the best to have worn the green shirt.
"An exceptional hockey player, team-mate and person. It has been a pleasure to work with Eugene at club and more recently at international level and I wish him and his family all the best with his retirement from international hockey."
Magee made his international debut in 2005, and says it's "been an honour to wear the Irish shirt".
The Banbridge man concedes "it will feel strange" to retire, but adds, "I have enjoyed 15 years as part of the Irish Men’s hockey team and it has been my privilege to represent my country among so many talented players.
"To be able to play hockey with your friends is one thing but to compete on an international scale takes a huge amount of work from a lot of people and to them I am truly grateful."
During his time with the Green Machine, Magee was a bronze medal winner at the 2015 Men's EuroHockey Nations Championship, and was three-times a Men's FIH Hockey World League winner.
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