Ex-Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard has been banned from driving after failing to name the driver of his car when it was caught speeding.
The England international, whose Nottingham Forest contract ended in June, pleaded guilty at Manchester Magistrates’ Court.
The court heard Lingard was not driving his Range Rover in August 2022 but missed a letter asking for details.
The 30-year-old was fined £900 and banned from driving for six months.
Lingard’s barrister Frank Rogers said the letter asking for the driver’s details had been sent to the player’s address in Greater Manchester when he had moved to rented accommodation in Nottingham.
He said: “Mr Lingard has accepted that the system in place at that time just was not good enough to protect him and deal with processing his mail.
“So when the speeding offence was committed in August last year in Stretford, Mr Lingard was in Nottingham. He was not the driver.”
Mr Rogers said that Lingard, who made no comment as he left court, was now “in discussion” with several clubs about his future playing career.
District Judge Jane Hamilton told the player he was liable to be disqualified under the “totting-up” process because he had points on his licence following two previous speeding offences.
As well as the £900 fine, the judge ordered the player to pay a further £560 in costs.
The midfielder moved to Nottingham Forest in 2022 after more than 20 years at Manchester United.
He has 32 England caps and featured in the 2018 World Cup squad.
Earlier this year Lingard, who had a loan spell at West Ham in the 2020-21 season, said he turned to drink “to try and take the pain away” as he struggled to deal with his career at United and “abuse” from fans.
“I look back now and think, ‘What was I doing that for?’. I was trying to forget what was going on. But it makes it 10 times worse,” he said.
