Usain Bolt registers to play for Stephen Ireland's Manchester Sunday league veterans side

Usain Bolt has been registered as a player with Wythenshawe Vets, a south Manchester Sunday league veterans side, according to the Football Association’s official website. The eight-time Olympic gold medallist and world record holder in both the 100m and 200m is 40 years old and has not yet been included on the club’s published 2026/27 squad list, and no official announcement has been made by the club.

The side is managed by Stephen Ireland, the former Manchester City and Republic of Ireland midfielder, and competes in the Premier Division of the Cheshire Veterans Football League. Wythenshawe Vets is affiliated with Wythenshawe FC, a grassroots club in south Manchester.

The squad already reads like a Premier League reunion. Former City defender Joleon Lescott and ex-City full-back Nedum Onuoha have featured, as have former Manchester United title winner Antonio Valencia, 2015-16 Premier League champion Marc Albrighton, ex-England striker Emile Heskey, and former Newcastle United forward Papiss Cissé. Other players registered for the current campaign include Maynor Figueroa, Jefferson Montero, Kieran Westwood, Paul McShane, Adrian Mariappa, Oumar Niasse, and Martyn Waghorn.

The Manchester Evening News has contacted the club for comment on Bolt’s registration.

Bolt retired from athletics in 2017 and subsequently attempted to forge a professional football career. He scored twice in a friendly for Australian A-League side Central Coast Mariners in 2018 and signed a professional contract with the club, but departed just eight weeks later. He ultimately stepped away from football entirely in early 2019.

Wythenshawe FC owner Carl Barratt has spoken previously about the commercial value the high-profile veterans team brings to the wider club. “Brand awareness is something which is key across many sort of businesses and what this does is it makes it an easy sell — the Vets team,” Barratt said. “But likewise, they’re just another team to me. One that I can utilise for the greater good of the club.”

Whether Bolt actually takes to the pitch in Wythenshawe remains to be seen, but his FA registration confirms the world’s fastest man is at least formally attached to one of English football’s more unlikely rosters.