Usain Bolt Joins Wythenshawe Vets FC in Sunday League

Usain Bolt, the fastest man in history, is back on a teamsheet – this time in a veterans’ Sunday league in Manchester.

The eight-time Olympic champion has been listed as a registered player for Wythenshawe Vets FC on the Football Association’s Full-Time website. Now 40, the Jamaican sprint icon is down to turn out in the Premier Division of the Cheshire Veterans Football League, an over-35s competition in south Manchester.

This is no ordinary Sunday side. Wythenshawe made headlines last year for assembling a squad that looks more like a Premier League reunion than a grassroots team sheet.

Their current group includes former England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, ex-Everton forward Oumar Niasse, former Manchester United captain Antonio Valencia and one-time Newcastle United striker Papiss Cisse. There is Manchester City pedigree too, with Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha involved, while Premier League title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater add even more top-flight weight.

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 walked away from the track in 2017, but he never fully let go of the idea of 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, briefly turning the experiment into a global story. He signed a contract with the club after turning down a two-year offer from Maltese side Valletta, only for the stint to end eight weeks later.

Now the comeback is more low-key, but no less intriguing: a global superstar dropping into the rhythms of English Sunday league, on pitches a long way from Olympic finals and World Cup qualifiers.

Wythenshawe Vets FC have not yet officially announced Bolt’s registration. The club has been contacted for comment.