January 24, 2009, is a date that former Manchester United right-back Richard Eckersley will always cherish.
Having joined the club at the age of nine, he fulfilled his lifelong dream by making his first-team debut at Old Trafford. United were playing Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup fourth round and were leading 2-1 when Sir Alex Ferguson called for the Salford-born defender to get ready.
Eckersley came on for Fabio after 53 minutes, joining a squad that included Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Dimitar Berbatov, and he played a role in helping United advance to the next round.
"It was an awe-inspiring moment," Eckersley recalled in an interview with the Manchester Evening News. "I was playing alongside players I had watched growing up, and I was passing them the ball. It was truly surreal."