IFFHS TOP NATIONAL LEVEL ACTIVE PLAYERS AT AGE 50+
Picture : Christopher Bryan (number 10) has played full game in Top level at 59 !
ACTIVE PLAYERS AT AGE 50+
Paying tribute to Kazu Miura playing on the top national level at the age of 54 (see our recent publication), we must note that he is not the only one in a global scale to show such an amazing longevity.
There are 3 other players in different top national leagues older than 50 years who continue their careers and have played at least one game after turning 50.
Khandsuren Oyunbileg (born 9 January 1966) is a goalkeeper from Sumida Gepro, a team which featured in top division of Mongolia in 2020. He end his career back in 1996 and suddenly resumed it 20 years later being 50 years old.
Signing a professional contract with Sumida Gepro, Oyunbileg joined the team in 2016 as third goalkeeper. He didn’t get a chance to play during 4 years but the long wait was rewarded on 12 September 2020. This day, his team met Ulaanbaatar. The injury troubles led to deficit of players, so the Gepro coach had no other choice than to input Oyunbileg as a substitute in the end of game. He had to hold 4 minutes on the pitch, and not in his proper role. He took the position of central defender and coped with the unusual position pretty well having done couple of decent tackles.
Khandsuren Oyunbileg - Kazuyoshi Miura
Sumida Gepro lost the game 2:3, and lost also all other games in the championship, with depressing goal difference 7-97. But the achievement of Khandsuren Oyunbileg brought some fame both to the club and the gray-haired player who became oldest professional player in the world football history. His exact age on the day of his match appearance was 54 years and 247 days. Hence, he was a bit older than Miura at his currently last appearance (54 years 12 days).
Christopher Bryan is not only Turks and Caicos Islands national player (6 caps), but also Honorary President of the Federation (TCIFA) . On the picture with Sonia Fulford, the current President of TCIFA.
Two other oldies are from Caribbean region: a goalkeeper Desire Butler from British Virgin Islands and a defender Christopher Bryan from Turks & Caicos. The latter has played a full league game (90 minutes) at the age of 59!
But after all, the feat of Miura is much more meaningful as achieved in much stronger league (Japanese league is placed 38th in IFFHS World ranking while the leagues of Mongolia, British Virgin Islands, Turks & Caicos are below top-100).
The statistical data on the mentioned players are gathered in the table.
We left beyond consideration lower national divisions where some cases occur of playing at the age over 70 years.
| Player | Pos. | Age (Y-D) | Country | Team | Game Date | Rival (score) | Tourn. | Min. | |
| 1 | Christopher Bryan | D | 59-068 | Turks & Caicos | SWA Sharks | 24/01/2020 | Academy B (3:2) | NL | 90 |
| 2 | Khandsuren Oyunbileg | D | 54-247 | Mongolia | Sumida Gepro | 12/09/2020 | Ulaanbaatar (2:3) | NL | 4 |
| 3 | Kazuyoshi Miura | F | 54-012 | Japan | Yokohama | 10/03/2021 | Urawa Reds (0:2) | NL | 1 |
| 4 | Desire Butler | G | 51-110 | British Virgin Islands | Islanders | 23/04/2018 | Rebels (1:1) | NL | 90 |