This is back in England... Throughout school I played in a team alongside a lad who was unstoppable. Fast, strong, defenders used to get hurt trying to tackle him. The guy would have scared Vinnie Jones. He'd rule midfield and I'd just sweep up around him and try to dodge the corpses he left behind. The thing was, he only played to keep the teachers off his back - never played outside of school. Didn't even like the game.

He was offered trials at Sunderland, Newcastle, Man City, Leeds, Arsenal, and a few others from memory - but wasn't interested in playing professionally. After he turned down the trials I'm pretty sure a couple of them offered him the chance to just train with the youth team and see what happened - which he turned down.

No one will ever convince me that he couldn't have played at a very high level if his heart was in it.

He's a bus driver in Leeds now.