Usain Bolt Resurrects Soccer Dreams by Signing With Famous English Team

The retired sprinter has always wanted to become a soccer player.

Usain Bolt is often spotted at sporting events around the world. | Satish Bate/Hindustan Times/Getty Images

Eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt, still the fastest man in history over 100 and 200 meters, continues to chase a soccer dream by signing for a famed amateur team in England.

Bolt did it all on the track over the course of a star-studded career that also delivered 14 World Championship medals—11 of them gold.

He completed an unprecedented Olympic sprint ‘triple triple’ in 2016—100m, 200m and 4x100m relay golds at three separate Games—but lost one of the relay medals in 2017 when a teammate was found guilty of a doping violation from nine years earlier.

Bolt, now 40, has always been captivated by soccer. He expressed a desire in 2016 to become a pro player once he was done with running and said it “would be like a dream come true” if he ever got the chance to play for his favorite team, Manchester United.

Even though it didn’t happen for him at Old Trafford, Bolt tried out for Borussia Dortmund in 2018. He also trained that year in Norway with Strømsgodset—Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard’s first club—and with Central Coast Mariners in Australia’s A-League. The Jamaican sprint king scored twice in a friendly match against a local amateur for the latter and was offered a contract, although critics labeled it disrespectful towards other genuine professionals in the division.

Ultimately, Bolt lasted eight weeks with the Mariners without making an official appearance.

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Usain Bolt Joins Ex-Pros on Amateur Team

Bolt scored twice in a 2018 friendly for Central Coast Mariners. | Matt King/Getty Images

Going pro might have been a pipe dream and a publicity stunt for the clubs who dared give him a chance, yet Bolt was still clearly able to play to a high standard.

He will now have another opportunity to demonstrate his skills on a soccer field after it was discovered that his name appears on the official FA-registered player list for Wythenshawe FC Veterans, a team from Greater Manchester playing in the Cheshire Veterans League.

The team operates for players aged 35 or over, but this is not just any ordinary amateur setup. Wythenshawe Vets have become something of a cult phenomenon because their numbers are packed with ex-pros.

The registered names that feature alongside Bolt include that of Antonio Valencia, former Manchester United captain and two-time Premier League champion. Marc Albrighton, Danny Simpson and Danny Drinkwater all won the Premier League with Leicester City in 2015–16, while Joleon Lescott won it twice with Manchester City.

Wythenshawe FC Veterans player Antonio Valencia captained Man Utd. | Matthew Ashton/AMA/Getty Images

Ex-Liverpool and England striker Emile Heskey is also on the list, alongside former Newcastle United striker Papiss Cissé, scorer of the Premier League’s 2011–12 Goal of the Season.

Stephen Ireland, Nedum Onuoha, Maynor Figueroa, Oumar Niasse, Kyle Bartley, Ciaran Clark, Paul McShane and Keiren Westwood all played in the Premier League at one time or another. Several other players in the Wythenshawe squad had noted EFL careers, including Rory Fallon, who scored the goal that qualified New Zealand for the 2010 World Cup.

As of yet, Wythenshawe Vets have made no announcement regarding Bolt, but in recent days the club has been publicizing its lineup for 2026–27 in a series of social media posts.

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