90-Year-Old Soccer Star ‘Ninja’ Still Scoring Goals Regularly

Quick Smiles:

• Mike Fisher, the oldest soccer player in Britain at 90, continues to score goals for his local team three times a week.
• Fisher, nicknamed ‘Ninja’ by his teammates, averages three goals a game, a skill he’s been developing since his amateur footballing career started 75 years ago.
• Despite his age, Fisher’s enthusiasm for the game remains strong, demonstrating that age is merely a number when it comes to pursuing what you love.

At 90, Mike Fisher, the oldest soccer player in Britain, is still regularly scoring for his local team. Affectionately known as ‘Ninja’ by his teammates, Fisher embodies the idea that age is no obstacle to pursuing one’s passion.

Fisher’s love for soccer began 75 years ago. He played until his 40s before taking a break from the game. However, the appeal of the field was irresistible, and Fisher found himself rekindling his love for the sport in his 80s.

“They all call me ‘Ninja,’” Mike confesses, “because they say I’m gone in the blink of an eye. One minute you think you’ve got me, and the next minute I’m gone and the ball is in the back of the net.”

“If you ask anyone if they play with Mike Fisher, they might not know who you’re talking about, but if you say ‘do you play with Ninja’ they will know who you mean,” he said.

Fisher’s soccer journey began when he was 14 in the Luton and District League in his native Bedfordshire. After marrying his wife, Doris, he moved to the Midlands and continued to play. His love for the game remains as strong as ever, and he celebrates the return of his team, Luton Town, to the Premier League for the 2023-2024 season.

“I still love football and I’ll keep going for as long as I can—or at least while I’m still scoring regularly. That feeling of scoring goals never gets old—even if I am,” he said, speaking with the spirit of a true striker.

“I’ve lost count of how many I’ve scored but I usually get four or five a game and have been playing walking soccer three times a week regularly for eight years. A few times I have scored ten in a match,” he said.

After serving in Libya, Egypt, and Iraq in 1954 as an RAF motor mechanic, Fisher married Doris and moved to Blackpool where they had two children. Doris passed away in 2020.

“The football gives me a reason to still get up and out and stay fit and active. I don’t want to be sitting in a chair all day long. I began playing in Luton when I was around 14/15 and I played as a forward or as wide forward as it was known then,” he said.

“It wasn’t until I moved into my flat in Bloxwich that we went along to this community center and they asked what sort of thing I enjoyed doing,” said Mike. “I said I used to play football and they mentioned the walking football, although I thought I’d be way too old at 82, I just gave it a go.”

“All of a sudden, I started playing against people in their 50s and 60s and realized I could still do it. These days I just wait up front to stick it in the net if I’m needed. I’m a bit like Jimmy Greaves, I suppose,” he continued. “He was the classic poacher, he used to hug the box and score goals from close range.”

Old Corinthians teammate Mike Stevenson, 76, said of ‘Ninj’ simply that “he comes, he scores.”

“Can there be anyone else still playing regular football at this great age?” he added.

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