Usain Bolt Joins Wythenshawe Vets FC for Sunday League Football
Usain Bolt, the fastest man in history, is heading for Sunday league football in Manchester.
The eight-time Olympic champion has been registered to play for Wythenshawe Vets FC, a veterans’ side 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 vets team. Wythenshawe made waves last season by piecing together a side packed with former Premier League names, and the roll call for this campaign is just as eye-catching.
- Emile Heskey
- Oumar Niasse
- Antonio Valencia
- Papiss Cisse
- Stephen Ireland
- Nedum Onuoha
- Joleon Lescott
- Danny Drinkwater
Now they have Bolt.
The Jamaican still holds the world records over 100m and 200m, both set in that unforgettable 2009 World Championships in Berlin. He walked away from the track in 2017 and turned his attention to a long-talked-about dream: professional football.
He had a serious go at it. In 2018, Bolt scored twice in a friendly for Australian A-League side Central Coast Mariners, then signed a contract with the club after turning down a two-year offer from Maltese side Valletta. The experiment was brief, ending after just eight weeks, but it underlined his determination to test himself with a ball at his feet.
Now, instead of Olympic finals and global TV audiences, it could be windswept pitches and Sunday mornings in Cheshire.
Wythenshawe Vets have not yet officially announced Bolt’s registration and have been contacted for comment.
