In a club statement, Madine conceded he no longer has ‘that fire in my belly’ as the decision was taken to cancel his contract following ‘amicable’ discussions with Spennymoor manager Graeme Lee.
“I would like to thank the Spennymoor fans, my teammates and everyone involved at the Club for making me feel so welcome,” Madine said.
“Unfortunately, I’ve realised that I no longer have that fire in my belly that has helped me have the career I have had, and I don’t feel it’s right to collect a wage from such good people when I know my heart isn’t 100 per cent in it.
“I wish everyone at Spennymoor all the success in the world and hope they go on to have a really enjoyable season.”
Spennymoor boss Lee added: “Gary leaves with our best wishes for the future.
“We’re sorry it’s not worked out for him in the way we had hoped but we wish him well in his retirement and congratulate him on a fantastic career.”
Madine had made two appearances for the sixth tier outfit before he elected to hang the boots up.
He started up top for Spennymoor against Hereford and Radcliffe but failed to register a goal or an assist as his side won both fixtures 2-0.
Madine’s career summarised
Madine began his career at Carlisle United, where he came through their academy before a senior debut arrived in March 2008.
He went on to score 22 goals from 85 appearances for the Cumbrians, although he failed to find the back of the net across three separate loan spells whilst he was on the club’s books.
Madine made the first permanent switch of his career in January 2010 when he was snapped up by Sheffield Wednesday, who were in League One at the time.
His best return for the Owls came in the 2011/12 campaign, as Madine netted an impressive 18 times in 38 league fixtures en route to Wednesday achieving automatic promotion to the Championship by finishing in second.
However, Madine scored just five more times in the next 50 appearances for Wednesday and was shifted out to Bolton in 2015 following loan spells at Carlisle, Coventry City and Blackpool.
At Bolton, Madine scored 26 times from 107 appearances and was a part of yet another promotion from League One to the Championship obtained by finishing second as the Trotters ended the 2016/17 campaign runners-up to Sheffield United.
The 34-year-old was snapped up by Cardiff City in January 2018 and even registered five Premier League appearances in the 2018/19 season, although he never scored a goal for the Bluebirds.
A loan spell at Sheffield United preceded a permanent switch to Blackpool in January 2020, where he made 101 appearances and scored 23 goals.
Madine joined Hartlepool United in August 2024, but moved to Spennymoor after one season with the former.
In total, Madine was on the books of 11 different clubs across his professional career and amassed 531 games along with 119 goals.
A whopping 431 of those fixtures came in League One and the Championship, cementing Madine’s status as a true EFL veteran.
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