Kevin Ellison still playing at 47 after depression battle
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- Kevin Ellison had his sole Premier League appearance for Leicester City in 2001, coming on as an 84th-minute substitute at Old Trafford — he recorded four touches and fouled Paul Scholes in a 2-0 defeat to Manchester United.
- Ellison was rejected by Liverpool at age 15 after seven years in the club's youth system, alongside Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard, then worked on a building site delivering furniture while playing part-time for non-league Altrincham before earning a £50,000 move to Leicester.
- Ellison battled severe depression during his career, with his darkest moment on the M6 motorway when he had thoughts of crashing into the central reservation at 100mph; he credits counselling and speaking out with helping him through.
- Vauxhall Motors face Yorkshire side Thackley in the FA Cup preliminary round on Saturday (15:00 BST), with Ellison potentially becoming one of the oldest players to feature in the competition.
- Ellison has played in all eight tiers of English football across 29 years and 18 clubs — including promotion to the Championship with Hull City in 2005 and two Wembley play-off finals for Rotherham and Newport County — and is one of few players to reach 1,000 career games.
- Ellison was part of the England team that won the Seniors World Cup in June, beating France 4-0 in the final in Thailand, having also won the tournament in 2025.
- Ellison currently balances playing for Vauxhall Motors with a safeguarding role at a Liverpool secondary school, and took part in a 2020 Football Association campaign encouraging fans to look after their mental health.
Why it matters: Ellison's public disclosure of depression and suicidal thoughts — rare for a professional male footballer — lands as he continues playing at 47 in the eighth tier, directly subverting retirement norms while backing the FA's 2020 mental health campaign with lived experience rather than branding.
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