Montpellier legend Hilton retires at 43 | OneFootball

A Ligue 1 Uber Eats player since 2004, with stints at SC Bastia, RC Lens, OM and MHSC, Vitorino Hilton announced his retirement on Thursday, at the ripe old age of 43.

Brazilian defender Vitorino Hilton, whose contract was not extended by Montpellier Herault SC at the end of the season, announced on Thursday that he was retiring from the game at the age of 43, at the end of a professional career that has lasted close to a quarter of a century.

"It has been 24 years of great dedication and love for this sport that has given us many good things," the Brazilian wrote on Instagram, before thanking all the clubs where he played. "Chapecoense, where it all started, Parana Clube, Servette FC, SC Bastia, RC Lens, OM and especially MHSC."

More than 500 Ligue 1 Uber Eats matches

Hilton played for ten years at Montpellier, where he was French champion in 2012, as he had been two years earlier with OM. The central defender played 512 Ligue 1 Uber Eats games, a record for a foreign player, and was one of the league's leading figures.

"The decision is not easy, but it is time to write a new page in the book of my life," Hilton also wrote. "But it still hurts my heart to know that I will no longer take the field as a professional player."

In a press release published at the beginning of June, when Hilton had not yet made the end of his career official, Montpellier HSC explained that they had made the legendary stopper an offer to "continue the adventure within the club, in a new mission".

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