in december 2008, laursen was injured again. he returned for the game against west bromwich albion in january 2009, but suffered an injury relapse. in april 2009, o'neill expressed his fears that laursen's career might be over due to the injuries which, even if treated, would require 10 months of reconvalescence. in may 2009, laursen announced his decision to retire from football rather than undergo major surgery. 24 may saw aston villa's final game of the season at home to newcastle united. prior to kick-off, laursen appeared in front of the villa park crowd and gave a speech where he thanked the fans and wish them well for the future. following this, he was inducted into the "villa legends" section of aston villa's official website.