Manchester United fanatic Matty Lund snubbed them twice but finally can play at Old Trafford… for Burton
Albion ace even has a plaque signed by Utd legend George Best but says no-one wants a Carabao Cup upset more than him
SO you are a Manchester United nut. Your family have been season ticket holders for as long as you can remember.
Your father even worked as a doctor at games — caring for Stretford End fans who fell ill.
You have hundreds of programmes and own a collector’s item plaque signed by the great George Best — your prized possession.
And United come in for you as a kid. Twice.
And you turn them down. Twice. To stay with Crewe.
Tonight, though, Matty Lund will finally get to play on the hallowed Old Trafford pitch — but as a Burton Albion player.
Yet he so easily could have ended up as a United star . . . had it not been for the double negative that sent his career in a much different direction.
Ahead of their Carabao Cup third-round clash, Lund, 26, said: “Yes, I know what it looks like.
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“I know there are plenty out there who will think I was crazy to turn down United, especially as I’ve supported them my whole life.
“But, truthfully, I have no regrets.
“Although I’ve got to be honest, if Jose Mourinho were to come in for me now, I wouldnt turn down United a third time!”
Lund was considered one of the North West’s biggest prospects as a 12-year-old when his father, Dr Stewart Lund, first got the phone call from United inviting him to join their academy.
Two years later, he was still considered by Red Devils scouts as hot property and once again they made an approach.
The Northern Ireland midfielder still remembers the second time he was called into his dad’s study at home to be told of that second phone Old Trafford call.
And what he remembers most clearly is that there was no pressure from his father as he declared how he did not believe that going to the Theatre of Dreams was the right move for him.
Lund explained: “My father had been driving me down to Crewe for years, twice a week, taking me to games on a Saturday.
“He never complained once. But I’m sure he would have been very glad to have been making a much shorter trip into Manchester if I had said yes.
“There was also the fact that, as a family, we were all United-mad. My dad was even on duty as a doctor at games for three years.
“But each time, it just didn’t feel right to me.
“I’d been going to Crewe since I was ten. I had a lot of mates there and I loved the coaching under Steve Holland, who is now assistant manager to Gareth Southgate for England.
“And even then I could see that some kids just sort of disappeared when they signed up for United.
“I just thought that if I was going to make it as a footballer, I would have a better long-term chance by staying where I was.
“Not once did my dad question my decision.
“I’ve always admired him for that.”
Lund, who qualifies for Michael O’Neill’s World Cup hopefuls because his mother hails from Eniskillen, eventually ended up moving to Stoke.
But he never got a Premier League appearance under Tony Pullis and spent three seasons on a series of loan deals before joining Rochdale in 2013.
This summer, Brewers boss Nigel Clough signed him and grammar-school educated Lund stressed: “I like to think now that I am finally on the road to where I want to be.
“I’m loving it at Burton and getting to work with another top coach in Nigel.
“I’m not one to look back on what might have been had I taken up United’s offers.
“But at home and in the area that we live, there were always reminders.
“Roy Keane lives near us and I would see him walking his dog often. As he happens to be my favourite United player, there would be moments when you might just wonder . . .
“So it is going to be one of the thrills of my life to be out there on the Old Trafford pitch.
“And I’ll be taking home a United programme to add to my collection — this time one with my name will be on it.
“It could have been on there for years, I guess.
“But I can still make my mark, even if it is helping Burton to produce a cup shock.
“And United fan or not nobody will be trying harder to do that than me.”
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