Ex-Leeds Utd, Huddersfield & Preston ace rolls back the years at Goodison Park | OneFootball

Jermaine Beckford demonstrated that class is permanent during a fund-raising match at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon.

All professional footballers have a shelf-life, but the fundamentals that propelled them to the top of the game never quite leave them, as Jermaine Beckford demonstrated during a charity match at Goodison Park on Saturday.

It's an inevitable aspect of the career of every professional footballer that there will come a point at which their powers start to wane. At some point in their thirties - or very occasionally in their forties - when they will reach a level at which the aging process takes over and it's time to hang up their boots.

But the raw ability that took them so high in the first place never quite leaves them, and the former Leeds United, Everton, Huddersfield Town and Preston North End star Jermaine Beckford gave an incredible demonstration of this during a charity match being played at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon.

Jermaine Beckford rolled back the years with a stunning goal at Goodison Park

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The match, between Team Merseyside and the Rest of the World, was the inaugural Game4Hope, was played at Goodison Park in Liverpool on Saturday afternoon, and was broadcast live on television in the UK on Channel Five.

And the Five account on the social media platform X pulled out one particular moment from the match to showcase.

The match had been playing for 55 minutes when the former Everton star pinged the ball nonchalantly into the top corner in front of the Gwladys Street end to increase Team Merseyside's lead to 2-0.

The match saw a team of combined former Liverpool and Everton players, jointly managed by Peter Reid and John Barnes, play a team representing the Rest of the World which was captained by Rivaldo and also featuring the likes of Cafu and Clarence Seedorf.

It ended in a 3-2 win for Team Merseyside, with former Everton star Leighton Baines scoring the winning goal with the rebound from a penalty.

What fans are saying about Jermaine Beckford's charity match worldie

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Jermaine Beckford's goal in the Game4Hope charity match has prompted a lot of comment, so here's a selection of what's been said about it.

They include responses from former EFL striker Aaron McLean, a fellow former striker who was impressed with Beckford's finish, and knows that if you've got that talent, you never lose it.

This Liverpool fan met Beckford at the match and the former player told him how good his strike was.

This fan was watching and feels that Beckford was simply getting back to what he does best.

And this Leeds fan had his own little Beckford tribute on Saturday.

Jermaine Beckford is fondly remembered at Leeds as the result of three sensational League One seasons at Elland Road

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Over a 13-year professional career which took in the Premier League, the Championship and League One, Jermaine Beckford demonstrated his talents for many years and at a number of different clubs.

First plucked from non-league Wealdstone by Leeds United in 2006, his club career saw him make over 400 senior appearances, scoring 169 goals, while he also made six international appearances for Jamaica, scoring once.

After three sensational seasons with Leeds, during which he scored a minimum of twenty league goals each season, the striker was signed by Everton in 2010 and scored eight times in 32 Premier League appearances at Goodison Park before moving to Leicester City the following year. He went on to play for Huddersfield, Bolton and Preston before finishing his playing career at Bury in 2019 after having missed most of the season with a persistent injury.

Now 43 years of age, Beckford is mostly involved with media works, there isn't much chance of him returning as a player in the professional game, but there's no question that he rolled back the years and offered a reminder to fans of what they were missing with his stunning Goodison Park goal.