One of the longest and most spectacular careers in the modern era will come to a close in May. Teddy Sheringham will announce tomorrow that he will retire at the end of the season. A playing life that began in 1982 when he was signed by Millwall as an apprentice will finish on May 4 when Colchester United face Scunthorpe United at Glandford Park — when he will be aged 42 years and one month.

The announcement will come on Sky Sports’ Goals on Sunday programme and Teddy will deserve all the plaudits he’s going to get because he has been one of the finest forwards in decades. You have only to look at his 51 England caps and the managers who have signed him and played him for proof of his excellence — Brian Clough, Terry Venables and Sir Alex Ferguson, to name a few.

They appreciated Teddy’s value and what he could bring to a game. He’s had that rare combination of intense hunger and calm intelligence. In an era when pace is so crucial up front, he survived and flourished even though he was never quick. If he had been blessed with speed, he would have been as good as Marco van Basten because he has so many natural gifts.

That sharp brain compensated for the slow legs: the ability to pass the ball where and when team-mates wanted it, a talent for finding space and time amid the mayhem of a match. Teddy’s a deep thinker but a loud talker — like the best players, he constantly cajoles and commands the troops. Other players fed off him. He made team-mates better footballers, from me to Jürgen Klinsmann to Alan Shearer. When we were together at Millwall in the 1980s, we pushed each other on, friendly rivals, spurring each other to greater heights.

His lack of pace has perhaps hidden just how passionate he is about the game. Forget all those “get the parachute off your back” jokes — Teddy is, after all he’s achieved, one of the most motivated of professionals. It doesn’t matter if he’s on the golf course or trying to help Colchester fight relegation from the Coca-Cola Championship, he’s a competitor.

Remember the 1999 European Cup final, when he scored that late equaliser as Manchester United beat Bayern Munich. He was a substitute, jogging up and down the touchline in front of Ferguson, letting him know he was ready to come on and make a difference. Virtually insisting. And when he did get on, he made the difference — twice. A typical Teddy near-post run and flick helped to set up the winner for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

It says much about Teddy’s ability that Ferguson signed him to replace Eric Cantona and a lot about his character that Teddy was up for a task that would have terrified most people. “You’ll have your work cut out following ‘The King’,” I said to him at the time. “Yeah, I know where you are coming from,” was all he said. Aware of the pressure, confident he would handle it.

No one loves being a footballer more than Teddy. The game, the money, the stardom, the women — he relishes it all. And yet he’s never let the lifestyle blur his focus on the job. He can party hard and train hard. Of course, he’s been lucky enough to be blessed with a body that’s allowed him to play in the Premier League into his forties. Friends call him “The Android”.

Even machines wear down eventually, though. You want your friends to go out on a high note and this seems like a good time to call it a day. It’s been a tough year for him, in and out of a struggling Colchester side, and he’s been conscious of people watching and thinking: why are you still going at your age, playing for a small team like this when you don’t need to?

He’ll still need football after he’s hung up his boots and I think he’s got the personality and intelligence to be a good manager. He’s a fine observer of the game and can keep everyone at arm’s length and treat everyone equally. And he’s brave and strong enough to talk straight, even to a friend.

First, though, the task of keeping Colchester up. Teddy’s always had a sense that he’s able to shape destiny, seize the moment and change the course of big matches. He did it in 1999 at the Nou Camp and if Colchester need a goal on the last day of the season you wouldn’t back against him delivering. It’d be a fitting end to a brilliant career.

Teddy down the ages

Teddy Sheringham was born on April 2, 1966. He has collected a stack of domestic honours and was appointed MBE last summer.

Clubs

Millwall 1982-1991
Nottingham Forest 1991-1992
Tottenham Hotspur 1992-1997
Manchester United 1997-2001
Tottenham Hotspur 2001-2003
Portsmouth 2003-2004
West Ham United 2004-2007
Colchester United 2007
England 1993-2002 51 caps 11 goals

Honours

European Cup with Manchester United in 1999
Premier League titles with Manchester United in 1999, 2000 and 2001
FA Cup with Manchester United in 1999
Second division Championship with Millwall in 1988

History lessons

Much has changed since Teddy Sheringham played his first game as a professional more than 24 years ago. In January 1984, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, Frankie Goes to Hollywood were No 1 in the charts with Relax and Torvill and Dean were polishing their Bolero routine for the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. Six weeks after Sheringham’s debut, the miners went on strike. The Thames Barrier opened soon afterwards and the £1 note became a £1 coin.

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