'I regret leaving Man Utd when I did – now I work in a shop for a living'

Former Manchester United right-back Richard Eckersley will always remember January 24, 2009.

It was the day he fulfilled his childhood dream of making his first-team debut for the club he joined at just nine years old. Coming off the bench at Old Trafford, Eckersley replaced Fabio in a thrilling FA Cup fourth round tie against Tottenham Hotspur, with United leading 2-1.

Joining a star-studded team that included Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Cristiano Ronaldo and Dimitar Berbatov, Eckersley helped secure United's progression to the next round. Eckersley once told the Manchester Evening News: "It was an awe-inspiring kind of moment. I was playing with people I had watched growing up, and I was giving them the ball. It was a really surreal moment."

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At a time when the squad was brimming with big names, Eckersley was pushing for a spot in the first team. He drew inspiration from the commitment, dedication and desire of the club's leading stars.

He recalled: "You hear stories about them when you're growing up and coming through the academy. You heard about Roy Keane, Giggs, Scholes and their professionalism. You hear in the academy that this is what these players are like and how they got to that stage. It was really inspiring and, for the most part, all the things that I learnt there I have taken into my life now."

Eckersley, now 36, made just four first-team outings but does possess a League Cup winners' medal from his Old Trafford days. Despite failing to feature for a single minute during the Reds' march to the 2009 final, he was among the substitutes at Wembley after impressing Sir Alex Ferguson in a reserve clash against Manchester City a few days earlier.

"Sir Alex Ferguson used to watch all the reserve games and obviously contacted all the coaches," said Eckersley. "I was playing really well in the reserves, and I think we played Manchester City in a reserve game a few days before the League Cup final, and I played really well.

"I think he just put me on the bench almost as a reward. I guess he was seeing it as an opportunity for me to get some time with the first team and potentially win something.

"Also, the confidence in me after seeing me play and the confidence in me to say, 'I can put you on the bench.' It was a surreal moment, and I do have a League Cup medal; I think it is in the loft at the minute. Actually, I have not looked at it for a while!"

Despite remaining an unused substitute, it represented the high point of Eckersley's United journey. Later that year, he chose to leave Old Trafford for newly-promoted Burnley.

It was a choice he would come to rue, as he featured just twice for the Clarets and was sent out on various loan moves. He reflected: "I think the decision to leave United was probably too early for me.

"I think I probably should have stayed on and developed at Carrington under the coaches that I was already working with, because I was making steady progress.

"I think the jump from the cusp of one of the world's greatest teams, you could say at that time, to Burnley, who had just got promoted but were going to be a struggling team in the Premier League, was a massive jump and a massive education for me, in terms of what is men's football and what is it like to play with players that haven't had the pedigree that people at United had.

"It was a huge shift from where I was at United and the standards that we were setting with professionalism, the facilities and all the kinds of things that we had. You were basically looked after to the nth degree. Then going somewhere like Burnley - and no disrespect to Burnley - they were just in a different headspace.

"It was just a completely different experience and, in hindsight, I think it would have been sensible for me to stay on [at United]."

Following loan spells at Plymouth Argyle, Bradford City and Bury, Eckersley headed to the MLS in April 2011, signing for Toronto FC. He said: "I was desperate just to play and desperate to enjoy football, because at the time I wasn't enjoying football. I was playing in League Two, going on loan to Bradford, Bury, places like that.

"I went on loan to Plymouth and we were in a bit of a relegation battle. I played under a manager called Paul Mariner, who really liked me and really liked how I played. He got the general manager's job at Toronto, and that is how the move came about to North America.

"He said come over to the MLS, play for six or seven months on loan and enjoy the football. That is exactly what I did. He took me over and I loved it.

"I loved living by myself, I loved the culture, I loved the relaxation around football and people just enjoying the football. Don't get me wrong, the football was a very physical league, going here, there and everywhere, but I just felt that it was such an enjoyable time for me as a player, to enjoy just focusing on football and also off the pitch as well, learning to live by myself and on my own.

"I had a close-knit bond with my team-mates and it was a really enjoyable time. From there, I just wanted to stay and that was how it triggered."

Eckersley stayed at Toronto for just under three years, featuring 92 times for the club. His next move kept him in the MLS, with New York Red Bulls snapping him up in January 2014, although he left less than a year later.

He was keen to reignite his career back in England and had trials with Swindon Town and Southend United before signing for Oldham Athletic. Looking back on that spell, he said: "I came back [to England] in January [2015] and for the first few weeks, nothing came about. I was waiting, waiting and waiting and nothing was available.

"I ended up signing for Oldham but I didn't enjoy my time there. By that time, I think I realised that I didn't really want to play football anymore. I was on the way out and I wasn't enjoying playing."

At 26, while crossing the Irish Sea on a ferry from the Isle of Man, Eckersley decided to hang up his boots for good. He wanted to discover what else life could offer that would bring him even closer to his family.

"My daughter was born in the June and I literally stopped playing," he said. "I wasn't interested in making any calls to my agent and I wasn't interested in football.

"We went to this wedding on the Isle of Man, we were hanging out as a family, just the three of us, and on the way back I was like, 'I really enjoyed that, I want to do it more often. I don't just want to keep being moved to here, there and everywhere, trying to find a career in football.'

"I felt that it was telling me something and that I needed to do something different. That was the reason that I said to my wife on the way back, 'I'm done, I'm not going to continue with this, I'm going to do something different'."

What followed wasn't your typical ex-footballer tale. Determined to start afresh for himself and his family, Eckersley, alongside his wife and daughter, journeyed to Totnes in Devon in a camper van.

They immediately fell in love with the town, so much so that they chose to relocate there for good. Eckersley was determined to contribute something meaningful to the local community and launched a shop. With a deep passion for vegan and organic produce, Eckersley and his wife established Earth.Food.Love, pioneering zero-waste retail outlet.

He said: "We wanted to find somewhere where we wanted to live; it wasn't the zero-waste shop that came first, it was where we wanted to live.

"We were living in a city centre apartment near Spinningfields [in Manchester] and we wanted to move somewhere where there was nature, vegan alternatives and all these kinds of things that we had picked up on our road leading up to this point.

"Obviously, having lived in Toronto and New York, you get access to these alternatives. Living in Manchester, there are alternatives, of course, but I felt to choose a place where we wanted to live was the cornerstone.

"We sat on the beach [near Totnes] and said that we wanted to make this our home. Obviously, we need to do something while we're here. We wanted to invest back into the community. The idea of a shop came about and, initially, the idea was that it was going to be a whole foods shop.

"There was already a whole foods shop in Totnes. We thought about what else we could do that makes us unique. The idea of a zero-waste aspect whole foods shop was unique and would draw people in. That was how it started."

Besides operating Earth.Food.Love, Eckersley also runs ReRooted, which produces plant milks that are now distributed across the UK. Despite how hectic managing two distinct enterprises can be, Eckersley is enjoying life.

"I don't finish at 2pm anymore," he quipped, referring back to his football days. "Those days are pretty much gone. But there is flexibility.

"Sometimes I feel like I am getting pulled from pillar to post. But it is a joy because it is something that I am enjoying doing. It doesn't feel like a chore and it doesn't feel like I am working a 9-5 job."

Despite only making a few appearances for United, Eckersley reveals he's often recognised by customers in the shop, leading to requests for him to participate in charity matches.

"I am just like, after a long day in the shop or at my other company, I am a little bit knackered," he said. "I just want to go home, put my kids to bed, and then probably go to bed myself.

"I don't really want to play football afterwards. I do play every now and again down on the astroturf at the local school, but it is very fleeting."