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Royle on Everton, Manchester City and being back in the game aged 69

Joe Royle is contemplating his return to the game, four months shy of his 70th birthday.

‘People say you must be mad going back in at 69 — I have wondered that!’

Last month, the Everton great became a director at Wigan Athletic after a Chinese takeover brokered by his son Darren, who is now the Championship club’s chairman. ‘My boss,’ he says with a smile.

The decision was a simple one. ‘I signed my first pro contract as an apprentice at 14,’ Royle explains in the kitchen of his smart Ormskirk home.