Sheffield Wednesday icon José Semedo announces retirement in emotional press conference

Tough-tackling Portuguese José Semedo won League One promotion with the Owls in the 2011/12 season, wowing supporters with his whole-hearted playing style and appreciative relationship with the club’s fan base.

He played 167 times for Wednesday – the highest tally achieved at any of his six clubs, having joined on a free transfer after four seasons with Charlton Athletic.

Semedo left the club in 2016 to join his hometown club Vitória Setúbal, where his career ended in emotional circumstances as he continues to grieve the tragic death of his wife Soraia in September 2021.

“I need to recover and recompose myself as a man because, at that moment, I was not at 100%,” Semedo told a press conference at Vitória’s stadium on Monday.

“My emotional state does not allow me to have maximum control of my abilities, so I decided not to deceive myself or people who have always been with me, especially in the most difficult moment of my life.”

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Semedo also represented the youth ranks at Sporting Lisbon before short stints with CD Feirense and Italian side Cagliari before making his career in England. He earned two caps for Portugal B having represented every youth age group from under-15 to under-21.

While he accepts he and his family needs to take time to recover from such a personal tragedy, Semedo has vowed to return to Vitória in some capacity in the future.

“The end is still a long way off because I have a lot to dedicate to Vitória who was with me at the most delicate moment of my life,” he said.

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“It's not goodbye, it's ‘see you soon.’ I'll come back much more capable and I'll train to come back much stronger, with more wisdom and hunger to raise this club where it has always been used to be.

“All my life I planned to start with the colours of Vitória, I did it in green and white at another club [Sporting] and now I end up at the club I always dreamed of playing for. The colours of my city and the club of my heart. This is it. The joy, that remains”