Ex-Manchester United and England football star Phil Jones stuns staff at Longton restaurant this week
Staff and customers at a village restaurant were stunned to see a sporting legend sat among them at the weekend.
Ex-Manchester United and England footballer Phil Jones, who also played for Blackburn Rovers, called in at Romano’s in Liverpool Road, Longton, on Sunday night.
Yesterday the Italian restaurant shared a photo of him with owner and chef Romano Santalucia, captioned: “Nice to see Phil Jones dining with us last night”.
The former defender, 33, was brought up in nearby Clayton-le-Woods and attended Balshaw's High School in Leyland - playing for Ribble Wanderers.
Last year, it was rumoured that he was buying one of the multi-million pound new builds under construction in Longton’s Marsh Lane, but this has never been confirmed. It is known that he has lived for many years with wife Kaya Hall in the village of Nether Alderley, close to Alderley Edge, where he remains good friends with a number of famous former team mates from his days at Old Trafford.
Romano’s
Romano Santalucia, who ran Bella Roma in Friargate, Preston, for more than 20 years, took over the former Porchini’s restaurant in late 2018. At the time, Romano, originally from Calabria in southern Italy, said: “I had Bella Roma for 20 years before moving back to Italy in 2012. My wife works in a restaurant, and we thought, why don’t we do it again, together?
He is keen on quality ingredients, wine, and the restaurant has gained a solid reputation in the local area, rating as 4.5/5 on Tripadvisor.