PLAY-OFF-winning captain Steven Caldwell said he had his best times in football with Burnley, after announcing his retirement.

A succession of injuries have forced the popular centre half to call time on his career yesterday, at the age of 34.

MORE TOP STORIES:

Caldwell, who joined Major League Soccer side Toronto FC in July 2013, is set to stay with the Canadian club as director of corporate development with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the club’s franchise owners.

The Scot has had 18 years in professional football, winning two promotions having gone up with Sunderland as champions in 2005.

But he said the three and a half years he spent at Turf Moor - from January 2007 to July 2010 - gave him his fondest memories.

“Burnley was my favourite time as a footballer,” Caldwell, who captained the Clarets to promotion via the 2009 play-off final and a 1-0 win over Sheffield United, told the Lancashire Telegraph.

“It was just phenomenal - such an experience and such a unique group.

“I never had a better time than I did at Burnley.

“It was an honour to captain the boys at Wembley.

“I will never forget that day as long as I live.

“The next season was exciting but not great personally because I was injured at the start.

“There was turmoil halfway through as well with the change of manager and then relegation. And then I left at the end of that season.”

Burnley made their return to the top flight last season, but similarly could not sustain their position and return to Championship action next month.

But Caldwell feels the club has come a long way since their first taste of Premier League football, and is in a better position to mount an immediate return.

“I don’t sense a hangover from relegation at all. I don’t think Sean Dyche is the type of manager who would allow that,” he said.

“The guys understand what’s needed to get back there and they have more than enough quality to do that, hunger, and Premier League experience.

“It doesn’t mean it will get any easier next season, but they are aware of what it takes and they can hit the ground running.

“Every year it seems to be a tougher league to win and get promoted from, but they’ve got the guys up understand that.

“We weren’t stable as a club last time. We made some errors and it was difficult for a couple of years after that.

“This time the guys believed they had a great chance of staying up, but they have accepted going down and they have the right mentality and the right manager to keep moving forward.

“They have a great team spirit, they are hard to beat and the quality is there too.”

Burnley have lost key players Danny Ings and Kieran Trippier to Premier League clubs but after replacing them with Belgian striker Jelle Vossen and Aston Villa right back Matt Lowton, manager Sean Dyche is looking to make further additions.

The Clarets have been linked with Liverpool youngster Jerome Sinclair and former Watford loanee Daniel Tozser. The Hungarian international is available on a free transfer following his release from Parma.