Most football fans born in Manchester are mostly attributed red for United or blue for City. However, Nathan Eccleston was an exception. Nathan chose to ignore both Manchester clubs when United’s arch rivals Liverpool came calling.
Nathan was given several chances to shine during Roy Hodgson’s seven month spell at the club. While the now 33-year-old appreciates every opportunity he was given, his fondest memory remains the day he signed for the Reds.
Nathan speaks to Liverpool Echo
“As you can imagine, being a 15 year old lad from Manchester, when Liverpool are the ones that are calling you it comes as a bit of a surprise initially,” Nathan said to the Liverpool Echo. “Then the overwhelming feeling of Liverpool being interested in me and wanting me to come down and trial hit. I literally just started crying.
“I knew what a great opportunity it could be for a lad like myself to go and present my skills to a club like Liverpool. That summer Liverpool had just won the Champions League; and whether you were a die-hard Liverpool fan or not, everyone in the world of football was a Liverpool fan that night because of how historic Istanbul was.”
Nathan appreciates Hodgson
Nathan made nine appearances for Liverpool. While Rafa Benitez handed him his debut, it was Roy who gave him the most opportunities in the first team. Seven of his appearances came under the now Crystal Palace manager. He claims to remember every minute playing for the 76 year old manager.
“I remember specifically, that I played seven times under Roy; and he was that type of manager if you were working hard in training and you applying yourself he would give you the opportunity,” Nathan added.
“On a couple of occasions, he played me ahead of some senior players and some international players. I was really grateful for that because he gave you a really fair crack at the whip. I was really grateful that he didn’t have a bias. That’s why I think, obviously, his time at Liverpool is probably viewed up and down; but for me, as a player, I appreciated that he picked players on their attitude.”
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