{"id":259031,"date":"2026-08-21T19:52:06","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T19:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/usain-bolt-set-to-play-sunday-league-football-for-star-studded-veterans-team\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T19:52:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T19:52:06","slug":"usain-bolt-set-to-play-sunday-league-football-for-star-studded-veterans-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/usain-bolt-set-to-play-sunday-league-football-for-star-studded-veterans-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Usain Bolt set to play Sunday league football for star-studded veterans\u2019 team"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The sprinting legend <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/sport\/usainbolt\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Usain Bolt<\/a> appears set to turn out for a star-studded Sunday league team in Greater Manchester after his name appeared in their online squad list.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The eight-time Olympic champion, who still holds the world records for the 100 metres and 200m, appears on the player list for Wythenshawe FC Veterans on the <a href=\"https:\/\/fulltime.thefa.com\/displayTeam.html?divisionseason=488291290&amp;teamID=842330809#tab-4\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Football Association\u2019s Full-Time website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"6d00b8f8-724c-4b95-aa2b-c4fcb67773ce\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-1oq85qr\"><gu-island name=\"RichLinkComponent\" priority=\"feature\" deferuntil=\"idle\" props=\"{&quot;richLinkIndex&quot;:2,&quot;element&quot;:{&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement&quot;,&quot;prefix&quot;:&quot;Related: &quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;\u2018Just as enjoyable as the Premier League\u2019: Wythenshawe\u2019s top-flight veterans take centre stage&quot;,&quot;elementId&quot;:&quot;6d00b8f8-724c-4b95-aa2b-c4fcb67773ce&quot;,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;richLink&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/2025\/nov\/10\/wythenshawe-veterans-sunday-league-premier-league&quot;},&quot;ajaxUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/api.nextgen.guardianapps.co.uk&quot;,&quot;format&quot;:{&quot;design&quot;:0,&quot;display&quot;:0,&quot;theme&quot;:2}}\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The club currently play in the Cheshire Veterans League and feature a squad full of former top-level professional footballers. Managed by the former Manchester City and Republic of Ireland midfielder Stephen Ireland, their line-up includes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/2025\/nov\/10\/wythenshawe-veterans-sunday-league-premier-league\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a number of Premier League veterans<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Danny Drinkwater, Antonio Valencia, Joleon Lescott, Emile Heskey, Marc Albrighton, Nedum Onuoha and Papiss Ciss\u00e9 are among the famous names to have turned out for the team. Last season Wythenshawe\u2019s squad had more than 1,800 English top-flight appearances between them.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"6c528747-b1a4-43ea-8e42-855101470682\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-d9bay7\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-174mzkf\"><span class=\"dcr-vyhg7z\"><svg width=\"18\" height=\"13\" viewbox=\"0 0 18 13\"><path d=\"M18 3.5v8l-1.5 1.5h-15l-1.5-1.5v-8l1.5-1.5h3.5l2-2h4l2 2h3.5l1.5 1.5zm-9 7.5c1.9 0 3.5-1.6 3.5-3.5s-1.6-3.5-3.5-3.5-3.5 1.6-3.5 3.5 1.6 3.5 3.5 3.5z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">Usain Bolt in action for the Australian side Central Coast Mariners in 2018.<\/span> Photograph: Matt King\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Bolt, now 40 years old, is a huge football fan. After retiring following the World Championships in 2017, he attempted to build a professional career in the sport, briefly playing for the Australian side Central Coast Mariners.<\/p>\n<figure data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.NewsletterSignupBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-d9bay7\"><gu-island name=\"EmailSignUpWrapper\" priority=\"feature\" deferuntil=\"visible\" props=\"{&quot;index&quot;:7,&quot;listId&quot;:4163,&quot;identityName&quot;:&quot;the-fiver&quot;,&quot;category&quot;:&quot;article-based&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Football Daily&quot;,&quot;frequency&quot;:&quot;Every weekday&quot;,&quot;theme&quot;:&quot;sport&quot;,&quot;illustrationSquare&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/media.guim.co.uk\/3913a70a8b2e7b8d826d813515822b0b54952cdd\/0_0_3000_3000\/500.jpg&quot;,&quot;exampleUrl&quot;:&quot;\/football\/series\/footballdaily\/latest\/email&quot;,&quot;idApiUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/idapi.theguardian.com&quot;}\"><a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"#EmailSignup-skip-link-7\" class=\"dcr-76akua\">skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1ao0bwb\">\n<div class=\"dcr-12qa5gp\">\n<hr class=\"dcr-1cjdlyj\"\/>\n<aside aria-label=\"newsletter promotion\" class=\"dcr-11zfjs0\">\n<div class=\"dcr-pspq5\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1gx5ko4\">\n<div class=\"dcr-191vl9p\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewbox=\"-3 -3 30 30\" focusable=\"false\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M18.364 2H5.636v5.68H3.43L2 9.29l9.048 7.504h1.904L22 9.289 20.571 7.68h-2.207zm-1.819 5.68v-.946h-9.09v.946zm0-3.787h-9.09v.947h9.09zM2 20.58v-8.994l9.048 6.627h1.904L22 11.586v8.994L20.571 22H3.43zM7.455 9.574h9.09v.947h-9.09z\"\/><\/svg>Free newsletter | <!-- -->Every weekday<\/div>\n<p class=\"dcr-vf9hps\">Sign up to <span>Football Daily<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1r7my33\">Kick off your evenings with the Guardian&#8217;s take on the world of football<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"EmailSignup-skip-link-7\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"after newsletter promotion\" role=\"note\" class=\"dcr-76akua\">after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n<p><\/gu-island><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">An ardent Manchester United supporter, the Jamaican has also been a regular participant in the Soccer Aid charity matches over the past decade. Wythenshawe, who have yet to announce Bolt\u2019s signing, have been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/sport\/2026\/aug\/21\/usain-bolt-to-play-sunday-league-football-wythenshawe-veterans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The sprinting legend Usain Bolt appears set to turn out for a star-studded Sunday league team in Greater Manchester after his name appeared in their online squad list. The eight-time Olympic champion, who still holds the world records for the 100 metres and 200m, appears on the player list for Wythenshawe FC Veterans on the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":259032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6802],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-259031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-athetics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}