The Premier League will bid farewell to a host of high-profile characters when the 2012-13 season concludes on Sunday, with legendary Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and Liverpool stalwart Jamie Carragher among the figures taking their leave of the sport. Ferguson will take charge of United for the 1,500th and final time at West Bromwich Albion, where veteran midfielder Paul Scholes could also make his last appearance for the champions after simultaneously announcing his retirement last week.

Premier League club Stoke have launched an internal investigation into reports of a dressing room prank featuring a bloody pig's head and a smashed car windscreen. It has been reported that a pig's head was left in Kenwyne Jones' locker by team-mate Glenn Whelan on Friday. On discovering the pig's head, Trinidad striker Jones was reportedly so furious that he stormed outside and smashed the window of Whelan's car in retribution.

Paul Scholes says his former Manchester United and England team-mate David Beckham's decision to retire is a "sad day". Scholes and Beckham, both 38, came through the youth ranks at United together in the early 1990s and enjoyed huge success as midfield partners before Beckham left for Real Madrid in 2003. Following subsequent spells with Los Angeles Galaxy, AC Milan and, latterly, Paris Saint-Germain, Beckham has announced that he is to retire at the end of the campaign.

Football megastar David Beckham announced on Thursday that he is to retire after a glittering 20-year playing career in which he became one of the most widely recognised figures in world sport. The former England captain, 38, made the announcement shortly after winning the Ligue 1 title with French giants Paris Saint-Germain, which made him the first Englishman to win league championships in four different countries. He bows out from the game at the same time as his former Manchester United mentor Alex Ferguson, who handed Beckham his professional debut in 1992.