For any father, seeing their child become a professional footballer is a true pinch-me moment.
For Emile Heskey, that privilege is doubled given that not one but two of his sons are now forging their respective paths in the game.
And Jayden, 20, and younger brother Reigan, 18, have the perfect sounding board in their dad thanks to his 22-year career at the top of the game – one that includes 62 England caps and saw him become only a handful of players to surpass 100 Premier League goals.
Each of his sons progressed through Manchester City’s academy but this summer came a crossroads. Jayden, a central midfielder, sealed a season-long loan return to League One side Sheffield Wednesday, after a successful stint there in the second half of the previous campaign. As for Reigan, a winger, he took the bold step of a permanent move away from City, joining German top-flight side Cologne for a reported fee of up to £8million.
When asked by the Gazette to reflect on his sons’ pathway to the top, Heskey recalled: “They both started when they were very, very young. I think Jayden was four, so Regan would have been about two when he started. Just to sit back and watch their progress since then is amazing.
“Obviously, I was still playing at the time so I wasn’t fully hands-on until probably when they were a bit older. But just watching their progress all the way through and watching them grow now as players and understanding their football knowledge is just immense.”
Heskey senior admits that those back garden kickabouts and battles – a familiar scene up and down the land in any households with young children – have undoubtedly contributed to his sons’ progress.
“I think that was probably one of the biggest things for the littlest one, Reigan,” he says. “Because Jayden was so big, yet he would just smash into his little brother! So anything that Reigan got outside of the house was nothing compared to what he got in the house!
“I think there’s a famous picture on when we were in Australia of Jayden just taking the ball off Reigan and he’s falling on the floor! But that was normal! And if you look at what Reigan is doing now, nothing phases him or harms him.”
For both youngsters, the aim is regular and sustained football this season away from the mightily competitive battle at City for a place in the senior squad. “You’ve got to get that experience,” insists Heskey senior. “You look at someone like Ayyoub Bouaddi who City have just bought. He’s the same age as my son (Reigan) but has played over a season and he’s played at a World Cup. So it’s all about getting your game time and experience. And it’s very, very, very difficult at the bigger clubs to get that.
“Reigan has chosen this pathway (Germany) for himself that gives him a chance to actually play some games and get some first team football in a very, very competitive league. He’s on his own, abroad and it won’t be easy. We’re doing as much as we can to help him but it will be good for him.”
Whilst Heskey’s visits to see his younger son compete in the Bundesliga will understandably be more fleeting, he admits he’s likely to be seeing a lot of Jayden during his second spell at Hillsborough.
Last season’s stay with the Owls saw him stand out in what was his first real taste of regular men’s football. That was to a backdrop of a wretched season for the Yorkshire side, beset by off-field problems and with a takeover wrangle going on in the background.
Nevertheless, both parties clearly appreciated the experiment and there was obviously a desire to seal a reunion despite suitors higher up the EFL pyramid for Jayden.
“I think he had offers,” admits his dad. “But I think the fact was that he’d already been there and had already built a rapport with the players and the staff and everything. Plus, they wanted him back, not just as a bit-part player. No, they wanted him back to be a part of their push for promotion.
“And he wanted to take that challenge up and he’s relishing it because he obviously knows the club now.”
One particular fixture that the Heskey family will have already earmarked is the meeting between Leicester – the club where Emile made his name – and Wednesday, at the King Power not long before Christmas.
Emile adds: “I just try and split myself between the two boys and see how or where I end up. I see Jayden quite a bit but I’m down to go to Germany probably next week and then I’ll go again late October to watch another game, so I’ll stay with Reigan for a few days as well.
“I just try and watch the boys as much as possible. They need the support.”
It’s not just through watching his sons whereby Heskey is still engrossed and engaged in football.
The 48-year-old hung up his boots a decade ago but is now a director and avid advocate of the Football Safety App. The online tool, which can be downloaded for free onto any smartphone, that allows football fans to directly report any abuse. Reports are sent to a central hub of security professionals who liaise with stadium staff and also the police.
For Heskey, this topic is something he cares deeply about. He believes many people, regardless of sex, ethnicity or age, are put off going to matches and that something had to be done to make it easier to raise issues over various types of abuse.
“Everyone’s passionate about football aren’t they?” he says. “We’re a country that loves our football but when you think about it, is it really a place where you want to go as a woman or where you want to take a family or young children?
“It used to be like that, but now it feels like we’re moving away from that. We were trying to figure out why that is and most of what we found came down to problems you’d encounter such as harassment, especially for women. I’ve worked within women’s football and the harassment they get, not only on social media but at games as well, is ridiculous.
“So we looked at that and what could we do and what are clubs currently doing. And we found there was a there was a gap in people reporting it, because sometimes they’re scared to do so.”
Heskey says the simplicity of the app should allay any fears fans may have about how hard it is to report abuse that they either see or receive personally.
He says: “The vast majority of people know how to use an app and how to navigate through that. We’ve tried to make it as simple as possible. It’s very, very straightforward. You could take videos, you could take pictures and upload them just for more information.”
And the success of the app, which only launched in late 2025, is already showing with a flurry of EFL clubs already signed up.
“We wanted to try and plug that gap that was there and let people know that football is for everyone,” Heskey adds. “And it’s very nice to see that, actually, clubs believe that as well.”
You can download the FSA for free through the App Store or Google Play. You can also find out more by visiting the FSA website and you can follow them on their social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and X.
