Ex-Sheffield United player opens up on terrifying three-day kidnapping incident | OneFootball

Adrian Heath played just once for the Blades during his playing career before taking charge of the club in the 2003/04 season.

Former Sheffield United player and manager, Adrian Heath, has opened up on a terrifying three-day kidnapping ordeal that he was the victim of in November 2025.

Heath, who played just the one game for the Blades as a player, spent 18 games in charge at Bramall Lane as manager in the 1999/00 campaign. The 65-year-old oversaw the South Yorkshire outfit while they were in the First Division, before two interim spells at Coventry City in 2005 and 2007.

After getting his first taste of management with Burnley, the former Stoke City midfielder made his name in the USA during the 2010s, as he spent six years in the development divisions with Austin Aztex and Orlando City, before becoming the head coach of Orlando in the MLS in 2015.

Heath then spent eight years at Minnesota United, before he was sacked in 2023. Out of work since then, he travelled to Morocco in November for a job interview, but was kidnapped and held for ransom.

Adrian Heath speaks out after kidnapping incident in Morocco

It was a moment that will live with the out-of-work head coach for the rest of his life, with the FBI in the USA getting involved. He flew to Morocco to meet a "sheikh" who he believed owned a number of businesses and hotels in the region.

However, Heath's world was turned upside down when he travelled to a small costal town and was met by three men in a room, with one of them telling him: "You obviously realise that this isn’t what you thought it was going to be. This is how it’s going to work: You’re going to send us money. And if you don’t, you won’t see your wife again. You won’t see your two kids and your grandkids.

"I started thinking about all the good stuff about my life," he continued. "My wife. My children. My grandkids."

The former Sheffield United man continued to explain to The Athletic that the group demanded money, a six-figure sum, as they forced the 65-year-old to call his wife, Jane, who told her husband's captors that she could not transfer the money.

He told the men: "Listen, I don’t know how this is going to end up, but bottom line, you’re not getting any money. You can see that the only chance you’ve got of getting any money is me going home and me wiring it to you. From there, you’re going to have to trust me, but that’s where we are."

Adrian Heath reveals how he was rescued

The situation was extremely dire, but a decision made by the wife of Harrison Heath, Adrian's son who played in the MLS and had a spell with Norwich City's academy, proved vital. They checked the location of his phone, and contacted the FBI.

After three days, the former Blades boss was taken to an airport before flying back to the USA where he was reunited with his family. He explained the relief as he finally made it home: "This sounds crazy, but I’m going to use the word 'lucky.' How lucky we were.

"Because the one thing, listening to the FBI, they were just saying: 'You’re very, very lucky to be back.'"

"At times, it seems surreal. It was like the longest and quickest three days of my life. It gives everyone a chance to reevaluate their life and what’s actually important. And the only important thing is your family. Everything else is secondary. I’ve got a new respect for how good our life is and how good I’ve had it."