Having been on schoolboy forms with United from the age of 14, Gary found the step up when he left school at the age of 16 a demanding one.

"When you go full-time at 16 it is basically hard work every day.

"People think that for footballers a typical day is 10 until one and then you're finished and off shopping for the rest of the day.

"Between 16 and 18 it's nine until five and it's physically very hard.

"You're training for one-and-a-half to two hours in the morning and the same in the afternoon. You're basically fighting for your life and a professional contract.

"Fortunately for me and a lot of the lads in my year we got that but you need a stack of luck to get that contract."