Kevin Ellison remembers his one and only Premier League appearance with startling clarity: four touches, a foul on Paul Scholes, and a 2-0 defeat for Leicester City at Old Trafford in 2001. He was 22, introduced as an 84th-minute substitute, sharing a pitch with Roy Keane, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and Scholes. He never played in the Premier League again.

That single appearance capped a remarkable rise for a boy from Anfield who had been released by Liverpool at 15, played Sunday League football, worked full-time on a building site and delivered furniture — three-piece suites, beds, wardrobes — while turning out part-time for non-league Altrincham. A run of 23 goals in 54 league games there earned him a £50,000 move to Leicester, where he was paid £700 a week after a tense negotiation in which his agent was shown the door.

Dark thoughts on the M6

After the Leicester dream faded, Ellison found himself dropping through the divisions while coping with family problems and financial anxiety. Depression took hold.

"The darkest moment was when I was driving on the M6," he says. "My thoughts back then were: 'would people's lives around me be better if I smashed my car into the central reservation at 100mph?' That's how deep it got."

He describes years of suffering in silence, afraid of judgment. "I was scared people would judge me, talk about me, turn their back on me — all because I am a man who's got a dream job and meant to be fine in life, without realising I am a human being with feelings like everyone else."

Counselling and the courage to open up to those around him proved the turning point. "I am not ashamed of where I've been and what I've been through," he says. "Speaking out is the only way I got through those dark clouds."

Still playing at 47

Now 47, Ellison is healthier and, by his own account, happier than ever. He continues to play for Vauxhall Motors, a Cheshire-based non-league club competing in the Northern Premier League Division One West — the eighth tier of English football. A possible appearance against Yorkshire side Thackley in the FA Cup preliminary round on Saturday would make him one of the oldest players ever to feature in the competition.

"Everyone says I should be in a nursing home," he laughs. Yet Ellison has played in all top eight tiers of English football across a career that spans 29 years and 18 clubs, reaching the 1,000-game milestone along the way. His highlights include winning promotion to the Championship with Hull City in 2005, two Wembley play-off final appearances — for Rotherham United in 2010 and Newport County in 2021 — and 124 goals in 553 fourth-tier league games, including 81 in 352 outings for Morecambe between 2011 and 2020.

Away from football, he works in a safeguarding role at a secondary school in Liverpool. The students, he says, occasionally remind him that he only played once in the Premier League. His response is characteristically upbeat: "Yeah, but it was against Manchester United, who back then were the world's best team."

England Seniors World Cup winner

Earlier this year, Ellison added another honour to his collection when he helped England win the Seniors World Cup, beating France 4-0 in the final in Thailand in June. Gareth Barry, Lee Hendrie, Barry Hayles, and Luke Chambers were among his teammates. He had also won the tournament with England in 2025.

His message to anyone struggling with their mental health is direct: "Don't be ashamed. Everyone has problems. Please talk to family and friends — open up, there are people willing to help and listen."

"If my story can help just one person," he adds, "I'll be an even happier man."