I left Manchester United too early and regretted it - now I run a shop for a living
manchestereveningnews.co.ukJanuary 24, 2009, is a date former Manchester United right-back Richard Eckersley will never forget. Having joined United as a nine-year-old, he achieved his lifelong dream of making his first-team debut, stepping off the bench at Old Trafford.
United were facing Tottenham Hotspur in an FA Cup fourth round tie and were 2-1 up when Sir Alex Ferguson ordered the Salford-born defender to get ready.
Replacing Fabio, Eckersley came on after 53 minutes, taking his place in a team that featured Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Cristiano Ronaldo and Dimitar Berbatov, and helped United progress to the next round. READ MORE: I was told I wasn't allowed to join United - what I did next is my biggest regret READ MORE: I won two trophies at United - but I hated every second of it "It was an awe-inspiring kind of moment," Eckersley told the Manchester Evening News. "I was playing with people I had watched growing up and I was giving them the ball.
It was a really surreal moment." Eckersley was knocking on the door of the first-team at Old Trafford at a period when the squad was stacked with household names.
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