CHRIS Kirkland has left Bury without playing a first-team game after the club agreed to cancel his contract.

The 35-year-old former Coventry, Liverpool, Wigan and Sheffield Wednesday keeper signed on a free transfer in the summer after being released by Preston.

But manager David Flitcroft revealed the ex-England stopper wanted to "devote all his time to his family" and says he had no choice but to support his decision.

"It's been a difficult situation to deal with for me as a manager," he said.

"When someone like Chris Kirkland, who has so much to offer the game as a player and as a person comes into your building and says he doesn't want to and can't carry on you have to listen.

"One thing I pride myself on as a manager is that I'm always approachable to my players and staff and understand the pressures that sometimes can be experienced away from football.

"We work in a fantastic industry but the game and life has many pressures and can be very difficult at times.

"Chris needs time out away from the game he loves, but family is and will always be more important than football.

"Chris has chosen to devote all his time to his family and both the club and I support his difficult decision.

"He knows of the unconditional support he has and will always receive from me and the club. We wish Chris and his family well and I hope to see him return in some capacity to football when the time is right for him.”

Kirkland has made just 321 first-team appearances in a 19-year career that started at Coventry as a trainee in 1997.

His father, Eddie, famously put on a £100 bet when he his son 14 that he would play for England before he turned 30. He won £10,000 when Kirkland won his one and only cap after featuring in a friendly against Greece in 2006.

Liverpool paid £6,000,000 for him as a 20-year-old, but he only made 45 appearances for them in all competitions.

After loan stays at West Brom and Wigan he moved to the DW Stadium on a permanent deal in 2006, where he played 125 games.

Despite spending a number of years in the top flight, Kirkland was continually dogged by injuries and failed to reach the heights expected of him as a teenager.

Further temporary spells at Leicester and Doncaster followed before a free transfer to Sheffield Wednesday in 2012, where the Midlander spent three seasons before plumping for a move to Preston over Bury last summer - a decision he later admitted he got wrong after making just six appearances for the Lilywhites.

Kirkland eventually signed for the Shakers in June, and while it is not clear exactly what personal issues have triggered his decision to tear up his contract and walk away from the game, he said he hoped to return, refreshed, at some stage in the future.

“I have asked Bury FC to cancel my contract with immediate effect and I am thankful to the gaffer and the chairman for the compassion and understanding they have shown.

“I know people will find it hard to understand why someone like myself, who has been lucky enough to have spent my professional life in football and enjoyed all the benefits that comes with that, needs some time and space away from the game; however, it's a decision I've taken, putting my family's future and well-being first.

"It's been the toughest decision I've ever had to make, but I know it's the right one. ?

“I hope, at the appropriate time, I might be able to, again, be involved and work within football, either as a player or in coaching or even work within the community.

"I believe that taking this break will allow me to come back refreshed, with a new perspective on the game that will be valuable to someone.

?“Again, I'd like to place on record my thanks to the club, the players, the staff, management and the chairman for showing what top class people they are in how they've managed this situation for me.

"I'll be supporting them all season long and wishing them well in the League One campaign.

"Above all, I wish great success to David Flitcroft, who's shown me that leadership of a football club carries with it many responsibilities and he excels at all of them; I will always be grateful for the support he has given me.”

Kirkland's decision to leave has left Bury with two senior keepers in the squad, 33-year-old Ben Williams, who signed from Bradford City in the summer, and 18-year-old reserve stopper Jack Ruddy.