Former Gravesend footballer Jimmy Bullard has announced his retirement from the game with immediate effect.

The midfielder has called time on his 14-year playing career due to an ongoing knee injury.

Bullard played schools’ representative football for Bexley Primary Schools FA and Kent Schools FA whilst at primary school, and then represented North Kent Schools FA whilst a pupil at Erith School.

He was a painter decorator but turned his career to professional football aged 20.He started his career in non-League football with amateur club Corinthian before moving to Gravesend & Northfleet before being signed by the club he supported as a boy, West Ham United, for a fee of £30,000 in 1999.

Bullard ruptured the cruciate ligaments in his right knee twice in three years – at Fulham and again on his debut for Hull in 2009. The 33-year-old visited a consultant last week and after not receiving the news he had hoped for, has decided to hang up his boots.

“My old knee injury has never allowed me to get back to where I want to be as a football player; it’s always hindered me,” said Bullard in a statement released through his current club, MK Dons.

“There are a lot of games in this league and I now know my knee won’t allow me to play Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday, it’s not built for that now.

“I want to be out there playing but at the same time I know my knee won’t allow me to play at my best and to keep my place in the team. I’m hindering myself more than I am helping myself for the future.

“In the summer I knew I wanted to give it one last crack and show people what I could do. But what I think with my strong head and what I could physically do are two different things. My head tells me I can do it, but my body tells me, no, Jim, you can’t.”

After being plucked from Gravesend & Northfleet (now Ebbsfleet United) by West Ham in 1999, Bullard moved to Peterborough two years later.

His performances for Posh earned him a move to Wigan in 2003, where he made his name as an energetic creative midfielder and played a huge role in helping the club reach the Premier League for the first time in their history.

Fulham won the battle for Bullard’s signature in May 2006, paying £2.5m for his services. His three years at Craven Cottage were ill-fated, though, with his knee injury restricting him to only 40 appearances.

A £5m move to Hull followed in January 2009. Yet, bad luck struck and on his debut Bullard once again injured his right knee which, after further surgery, kept him sidelined for nine months.

Bullard joined Ipswich on loan before signing a short-term deal with MK Dons this summer.