Some players wished they had retired before their last match. Some farewells in sport have been shocking. What are the worst?
Sir Donald Bradman
In his last Test at the Oval in 1948, Bradman made the most famous duck in Test history.
All the Don needed was four runs to guarantee a Test match batting average of 100. Instead he was fooled by an Eric Hollies’ googly and bowled second ball for nought.
The irony was the bowler was one of the worst batsmen in English first class cricket.
Hollies averaged five in 616 first class innings and in 515 matches only scored 1673 runs, while taking 2323 wickets.
Mike Tyson
Prize fighters rarely leave on top but of all the pathetic exits from the sport none is worse than Mike Tyson.
Once the most feared fighter on the planet, a man who achieved 24 of his 44 career knockouts in the first round, Tyson threw in the towel against Irish journeyman Kevin McBride.
McBride had been knocked out by fighters with losing records but he can claim Tyson as one of his 35 wins in 46 fights.
Tyson conceded afterwards his will to fight had vanished and he retired instantly, promising not to “disrespect” the sport by losing to “this calibre of opponent again”.
Zinedine Zidane
In 2013 UEFA named Zinedine Zidane as its greatest footballer of the last 50 years. In 1998 the Frenchman was a national hero, scoring two goals in the World Cup final as his country beat Brazil 3-0 in Paris.
In the 2006 World Cup final in Germany, Zidane played his 108th and last international for France. It was a nightmare!
Tied 1-1, in extra time against Italy, Zidane was ordered off after head-butting Italian Marco Materazzi. France went onto lose the final on penalties.
Zidane has always maintained a racial slur was the trigger for his infamous head-butt. In 2010 Zidane said he would rather “die than apologise”.
Ayrton Senna
Deaths have not been uncommon in Formula One, but the most dramatic and heart-breaking was that of Brazilian Ayrton Senna.
Senna, a three-time World Champion and winner of 41 Grands Prix was killed while driving at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994.
The recent film Senna showed Ayrton to be a dashing driver and charming and driven personality.
Leigh Matthews
332 games, 915 goals, four premierships, eight best and fairest awards at Hawthorn – there was very few things Leigh Matthews did not achieve as a player.
However his last season, in 1985, was full of controversy.
In Round 12, Matthews struck Geelong player Neville Bruns in an off-the-ball incident, breaking Bruns’ jaw.
No report was laid because video review facilities were then unavailable. However, after much public outcry, the VFL launched an investigation and subsequently deregistered Matthews for four weeks.
He was also charged by the police and fined $1000, later changed to a 12 month good behaviour bond on an assault charge – this was a major factor in his retirement.
Matthews’ final game was the 78-point grand final loss to Essendon.
Keith Murdoch
Colin Meads once said there were only two players he genuinely feared – Walter Spanghero and Keith Murdoch.
Murdoch was a prop who toured the UK with the 1972-73 All Blacks. Against Wales at Cardiff Arms Park, Murdoch scored the winning try in a 19-16 victory over Wales.
Later that night at the Angel Hotel, which was closed at the time, Murdoch knocked out security guard Peter Grant while trying to attain alcohol in a booze-fuelled celebration.
Murdoch was sent home in disgrace, but never returned to New Zealand, going into exile in the outback of Australia.
In 2001 he was a suspect in a murder case. Murdoch was later cleared.
ctar
Guest
Andrew Johns - His was not an official farewell but his final game for the Knights was a flogging down in Canberra on cold Monday night, Johns then injures himself in training the following week and announces his retirement.
mushi
Guest
I "think" the story is it was a racial slur directed at his sister
My mate James
Guest
Kevin Muscat - A-League career ended with a lengthy ban after the awful challenge on Heart's Adrian Zahra in the 3rd Melbourne derby, went on to feature in a farcical Asian Champions League campaign with Melbourne Victory before retiring, should really have retired much earlier and struggled for pace with younger strikers. Alistair Lynch - statless in the 2004 AFL Grand Final with his Brisbane Lions losing to Port Adelaide after having won the previous 3 premierships. Though he retired after the final siren, any second thoughts were dashed with a 10-week suspension from the AFL Tribunal for punching on with Darryl Wakelin.
ak
Roar Guru
Gilles Villeneuve
Declan McClure
Roar Pro
Anderson Silva if he has indeed fought his last fight, is a pretty bad way for a true champion to go out. Losing to a far lass talented fighter due to showboating, then a absolutely confronting legbreak in his comeback fight.
Johnno
Guest
Alain Prost, Kasey Stoner
Adam
Guest
"Think"
Jimmy S
Guest
Yeah, if i was gonna have an F1 driver in this list, it'd be Jochen Rindt. Died in 1970 at the Italian GP, only to 'win' his only World Championship 7 weeks later.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Re Zidane, I don't think it was a racial slur (was directed at Zizou's sister I think).
don
Guest
I really don't think Ayrton Senna belongs on this list, it was a tragic accident not some drunken shenanigans or a sneaky googly
Johnno
Guest
Alan Border's was bitter. Brian O'driscoll's lions tour by the end was bitter.
deanp
Guest
Punter Ponting's was not exactly memorable.
Winston
Guest
Sorry, I don't like this article at all. All this topic means is picking top shelf sportspeople who did not win their last game. I suppose of course we can say the complete opposite would be someone like Goran Ivanisevic, but how many Gorans are there? At this rate, what you're saying is unless Federer wins his last grand slam, he will also definitely make this list. The truth is most people don't retire unless they know they're not good enough any more, so it's natural that they are already on a decline. And what about every other non top shelf sportspeople who also didn't excel in their last game? Pick someone - say Scott Draper - should he make the list because he wasn't in the world's top 100 in his last year?
Jimmy S
Guest
"The irony was the bowler was one of the worst batsmen in English first class cricket." There's no irony there. Heaps of good bowlers are crap batsman.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Leigh Matthews dirty play was a constant throughout his career in a dirty era. Ironically he pioneered the cleaning up of the game as the incident was caught by the cameras and police laid assault charges. Bitter Hawthorn supporters booed Bruns for years after because of the assault charges laid. Didn't prevent ugly incidents such as Lockett laying out Caven. Speaking of which, Lockett's last farewell was pretty ignominious. Kim Hughes' last test was terrible. Any number of crybaby, excuse making, male tennis players of recent years when the mantle slips. I'm looking at you Pete, Roger, Rafa. At least Llyeton has got some dignity.
LX
Guest
The Zidane one resonates. He could have been just minutes away from a truly great sporting farewell, a second World Cup Trophy for France (unfavoured by many pundits) and the best player in the tournament (remarkable, at such a late stage of his career) - and then the headbutt turned it into one of the worst farewells imaginable!
Atawhai Drive
Roar Guru
Good piece on an interesting subject, Adam. Just a couple of things: When Don Bradman walked out to bat at The Oval that day, he knew it was his last Test but he did not know it would be his last innings in Test cricket. How could he know that? It was the first day of a five-day Test. England had been skittled for 52 on a wet wicket that had largely dried out and settled down by the time the Australians came out to bat late in the day. Sid Barnes and Arthur Morris put on 117 for the first wicket and then it was Bradman's turn. He might have realised that, in the circumstances, Australia were probably going to win by an innings, which is what happened (an innings and 149 runs). But there was at least the possibility of an Australian collapse and then an English revival in their second innings, followed by Australia batting again. A lot can happen in five days (plus a rest day, as was the norm in 1948). Keith Murdoch was called as a witness in a 2001 coronial inquest into the death of Christopher Limerick in the Northern Territory. Murdoch had caught Limerick breaking into his home in Tennant Creek the night before the 20-year-old disappeared. Limerick's body was found in an abandoned mine weeks later. Murdoch fronted the inquest but he was never actually named as a suspect, although the police regarded him as a person of interest, as the saying goes.