FILE PHOTO: Rugby Union - Premiership - Leicester Tigers v Saracens - Welford Road Stadium, Leicester, Britain - February 19, 2023 Leicester Tigers' Mike Brown celebrates scoring their third try Action Images/Peter Cziborra
(Reuters) -Former England fullback Mike Brown will retire from rugby at the end of this season, his club Leicester Tigers said on Tuesday, and the 39-year-old is bowing out with a call for unity to the game's authorities.
Brown made 72 appearances for England between 2007 and 2018, winning three Six Nations titles and being named Player of the Championship in 2014, the only English player to receive the award.
"After a great deal of reflection, the time feels right to step away from professional rugby and officially retire from the game that has shaped my life in so many ways," Brown said in a letter posted on Leicester's website.
Brown spent 16 years at Harlequins, winning two Premiership titles and a European Challenge Cup, before joining Newcastle Falcons in 2021 for one season and signing for Leicester in 2023.
He was excluded from England's training camp before the 2019 World Cup after an altercation with teammate Ben Te'o, and neither player made the tournament squad under coach Eddie Jones.
Brown's letter included a plea to club owners, league executives and the sport's governing bodies.
"My hope is that you come together, think beyond the short term, and make the bold, unselfish decisions needed to allow rugby to thrive once again," he wrote.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes, editing by Ed Osmond)
