It’s not a secret that the professional career of a football player in about 15 years on average, for example from 20 to 35 years old. But, there are players who just deny to hang the boots. And, yes, the most of the oldest active football players are goalkeeper and it’s understandable – because they don’t have to run all match long. So, our list will be separated in 2 parts – the oldest goalkeepers and the oldest field players.
Marco Ballotta is a famous former Italian goalkeeper, who played for Lazio, Inter, Parma and so on. He made his last participation in a Serie A match on 11th May 2008 at the age of 44 in the Lazio’s 2-0 victory against Genoa. In 2005, he set a record in the Serie A for the oldest player on the field, after beating the Dino Zoff’s record from 1983. Ballotta became the oldest player to play in a Champions League game in the same season. However, after he played his last match for Lazio, Marco Ballotta decided to become a striker and joined the team of Calcara Samoggia. He played also for San Cesario and Castelvetro, before retiring from football in 2015. It’s impressive that Ballotta scored about 30 goals in his last 4 seasons as a footballer.
The second choice for the oldest goalkeeper goes to John Burridge, who retired from football in 1997 at the age of 46. During his long career, which started in 1969, he has played for 30 teams (for about 28 years)! Burridge has played for Blackpool, Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Wolves, Sheffield United, Southampton and many other clubs.
And maybe the oldest goalkeeper (I found) is Dave Beasant, who is currently 57 years old. He retired from football a year ago and spent his last season at Stevenage. Beasant started his career at Edgware Town, then he played for Wimbledon, Newcastle and Chelsea. Dave even was called up for the English national team in 1989 and recorded 2 matches for The Three Lions. Now, Beasant is a goalkeeping coach at Reading.
The legendary English forward Teddy Sheringham had a very long and successful career. The Sheringham’s first professional contract was with Millwall, where he managed to score 93 goals in 220 games from 1983 until 1991. Then, the striker moved to Nottingham and Tottenham Hotspur, before making the move of his career in 1997 (being bought by Manchester United). Teddy Sheringham had 4 really successful seasons in Manchester, bagging 31 goals for The Red Devils in the Premier League. He found the net in the Champions League final in 1999 and eventually lifted the trophy. But, that wasn’t enough for Sheringham, who wanted to play more. He returned to Tottenham. Then, he was part of the teams of Portsmouth and West Ham United, before retiring in 2008 as a Colchester player. He was 44 years old when he played his latch official match.
Andy Legg is a former Welsh international football player (6 appearances for The Dragons). He has played for Swansea City, Notts County, Birmingham City and many more teams in the UK. The Legg’s last team was Llanelli (Wales). He hanged his boots in 2012. His last official match was in 2012, when he was 45 years old.
The legend of the Japanese football Kazuyoshi Miura is still a professional football player at the age of 49. He is a part of the team of Yokohama (J2 League). He is the oldest goal-scorer in a professional match in Japan. Miura scored his last goal on 19th June 2016. The forward has been a Japanese international player for 10 years (1990 – 2000). He has scored 55 goals in 89 matches for Japan. His professional career started in Santos in 1986! Now, he has been playing football for 30 years! So, Miura is the number 1 in our rank list!
