Second division record-holder Terodde ends playing career
Terodde himself waved goodbye to German football on his instagram page, taking special care to thank his recent clubs for allowing him to don the "number nine" tricot.
Thirty-six-year-old German striker Sion Terodde is officially retiring from football. This was confirmed by the journeyman's current club FC Schalke 04, the eighth club of his long and storied career, early Thursday evening. Terodde's 177 goals for various 2. Bundesliga sides over the course of 310 second division games currently stands as a record for any goalscorer in Germany's Unterhaus.
Terodde achieved promotion with three of nine clubs he represented, Schalke, VfB Stuttgart, and 1. FC Köln. While he never really broke through at the highest level, the Bochult-native did net 15 top-tier goals in 90 appearances for those three teams. Terodde also played for MSV Duisburg, Fortuna Düsseldorf, Hamburger SV, VfL Bochum and Union Berlin.
Terodde's best season came in Schalke's 2021/22 promotion campaign, in which he netted 30 second division goals. He surprisingly opted to remain with Schalke following their relegation last year. In his final season as a pro, Terodde notched five league tallies and registered six assists for die Königsblauen. He will receive a send-off in Schalke's final home game of the season against Hansa Rostock on Saturday.
"I'll be honest and say that I've always dreaded this day for the last few years," Terodde wrote this afternoon on his instagram page Thursday afternoon, "I was permitted to turn my hobby into a profession, I loved playing in front of a sold-out crowd."
"The last few stints at VfB, Effzeh [Köln], HSV and Schalke, where I was allowed to wear the legendary number 'nine', were particularly special for me," he continued, "I never took that for granted at such traditional clubs."