Liverpool hero Emile Heskey landed a role in non-league football in the summer when he joined Robbie Savage at Macclesfield. The Cheshire club are currently plying their trade in the Northern Premier League and appear to be cruising towards the title after winning 16 of their 19 matches.
Heskey was part of the England under-18s coaching set-up last season, where he assisted former head coach Ryan Garry and his replacement Tom Curtis.
But he left the international set-up to begin a stint as the Macclesfield forward coach.
Heskey enjoyed a stellar career in the Premier League after making a name for himself at Leicester in the 1990s. He secured a transfer to Liverpool in 2000 and went on to feature 223 times for the Merseyside giants over a four-year period.
The striker bagged 60 goals and 30 assists during his time at Anfield and got his hands on the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup as well as two League Cup titles.
He departed the club in 2004 to join Birmingham, before enjoying spells with Wigan, Aston Villa, Australian club Newcastle United Jets, and Bolton.
Heskey played for five different clubs in the Premier League and netted 110 goals in the competition throughout his 516 appearances. He also scored seven goals during 62 appearances for England, before calling time on his career in 2016 at the age of 38.
The 46-year-old began his coaching career as interim boss of Leicester City Women between 2021 and 2022 but has found opportunities off the pitch hard to come by since hanging up his boots.
And at the start of 2019, he told the Daily Mail: “You’re dealing with so many characters [when you’re a manager] whereas when you were playing it’s just you. I wouldn’t mind getting into coaching at some stage.
“If clubs want you in at the club, you’ll get a pathway. If they don’t, you won’t. You can do all of the badges you want but you still have to be given that first step in the door.
“We have a lot to give. We’ve been at clubs for a long time, so we have a lot of knowledge, so why not tap into that?”
And discussing his Liverpool career during an interview with the club’s website last year, Heskey explained: “I enjoyed every minute of being a Liverpool player. I often wish I had stayed one more season, I would’ve won the Champions League then.
“Liverpool fans seemed to take to me, and I like to think that was because a big part of my mentality was putting the team before anything else. I’d come from a background where if someone needed help you helped them.”