Shipard made the revelation in a personal column published on Football Federation Australia's (FFA) website Tuesday afternoon.

At just 26 years of age, she says injury has finally brought her career to an end.

In 2012 she went under the knife for a bi-lateral athroscope on her knees to repair some meniscal damage.

She lasted just three months on the training track before going into surgery again for another arthroscope on her right knee.

She made her return to the W-League for Canberra United during the 2013-14 season but couldn't even manage a full game of soccer over two weeks, and eventually made the tough decision to hang up the boots.

It brings an end to an accomplished career, during which Shipard has made 60 appearances for the Matildas including the 2007 and 2011 World Cups, and the 2010 Asian Cup triumph.

She burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old at the Athens Olympics a decade ago.

But all along Shipard has maintained her ties to Wagga where she grew up.

"I recognise that my career would not have been possible if it weren't for the opportunities that football in Wagga Wagga and the surrounding region of Riverina provided," she said in her column.