Usain Bolt Joins Wythenshawe Vets FC in Sunday League Football
Usain Bolt, the fastest man in history, is back in football – and this time it’s on a Manchester Sunday league pitch.
The eight-time Olympic champion has been registered to play for Wythenshawe Vets FC, a veterans’ side competing in the Premier Division of the Cheshire Veterans Football League. The Football Association’s Full-Time website lists the 40-year-old Jamaican as part of the over-35s squad based in south Manchester.
This is no ordinary Sunday team. Wythenshawe Vets turned heads last season by building a side packed with former Premier League names, and the roll call for this campaign reads like a throwback to a different era of English football.
- Emile Heskey is there, the former England and Liverpool striker.
- So is ex-Everton forward Oumar Niasse.
- Former Manchester United captain Antonio Valencia features, along with one-time Newcastle United striker Papiss Cisse.
- Manchester City are well represented through Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha, while Premier League title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater add even more top-flight pedigree.
Now Bolt’s name sits among them.
The Jamaican still holds the world records over 100m and 200m, both set in that unforgettable week at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. He retired from athletics in 2017 and quickly turned his attention to the sport he has always loved watching: football.
His most high-profile spell came in 2018 with Australian A-League side Central Coast Mariners. In a pre-season friendly he scored twice, briefly fuelling talk of a serious professional career. He signed a contract with the club after turning down a two-year offer from Maltese side Valletta, but the adventure ended just eight weeks later.
Now his name has surfaced again on an official teamsheet, this time in the veterans’ game. Wythenshawe Vets have not yet publicly announced Bolt’s registration and have been contacted for comment.
Until they speak, the idea hangs there: Usain Bolt, lining up on a Sunday in south Manchester, sharing a pitch with a cast of former Premier League stalwarts.
