‘I was born and raised in Manchester but started crying when Liverpool wanted me’

His birthplace is one of Liverpool’s fiercest rivals, yet one former prodigy chose to ignore the partisanship and turn out for the Merseysiders at Anfield

Nathan Eccleston was born in Manchester, but he made his name at Liverpool (Image: Getty Images)

Most football fans born in Manchester are mostly attributed red for United or blue for City.

However, one former prodigy chose to ignore both of the city’s Premier League giants when Liverpool came calling. Nathan Eccleston was one of the few players to relish his time playing under Roy Hodgson at Anfield.

During the former England manager’s doomed seven month spell at Liverpool, Eccleston was given many chances to shine under Hodgson. However, while the now 33-year-old appreciates every opportunity he was given, his fondest memory was the day he signed for the club.

“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,” Eccleston 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.

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“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.”

Eccleston spent most time in the Reds’ academy, who also loaned him to Huddersfield, Charlton Athletic and Rochdale.