From playing Champions to being a plumber: The incredible story of a former Manchester United player

There are names that are engraved in the history of the great clubs in Europe and others that are only lost in time. That happened with Lee Roche, who was trained and raised at Manchester United. However, when it came time for him to go up to the first team, it didn't go well at all and he had to go out through the wrong door. His most memorable moment occurred on March 18, 2003, when he made his Champions League debut against Deportivo La Coruña.

In that game everyone thought it would be the European start of the young winger who broke it in the England Under 21 team. But months later he ended up ending his link with the "Red Devils". The next step happened at Burnley until 2005. From then on, he was only able to play in clubs from the fifth to the eighth division, so that in 2011 he decided to permanently hang up his boots, after his constant injuries. It was then that he had to start making his way into another profession.

The Professional Footballers Association of England and Wales decided to help him financially to train in a new field. He managed to become a plumber and little by little he started his own business to fix walls. “Some co-workers asked me about United and how I ended up here. It can get quite tedious so I'm not going to shout that I played for Manchester United. I think the young players of today should train like something, so that they know the real world", he told Planet Football.

"I do not regret anything. The only thing I would point out is that I was known at United for being very quiet, so maybe I should have been more assertive and mixed with the guys more. I was going straight home after training to hang out with my own group of friends. Now I look back at teammates like John (O'Shea) and Darren Fletcher and I think I should have been more like them and go out and socialize”, he concluded.