Veteran Bomber forward Scott Lucas has announced his retirement from football … effective immediately.

“I’m here to announce I’m retiring which is no great surprise, and that decision is effective immediately.” Lucas said at a Windy Hill Press Conference on Tuesday.

“Even earlier in the year, I had a firm belief in my mind that this would be my last year,” he said. “Things always change; things turn around, but nothing has changed in the way I know this decision is right.”

Lucas retires after 270 AFL games , after making his debut in the second-ever Anzac Day clash with Collingwood in Round 5 1996.

He was Essendon’s club best and fairest in 2003, kicked 471 goals across his career and was a member of the Bombers 2000 AFL premiership side.