For Eccleston, traveling to meet legends Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres at council houses in north Manchester has earned him a living for three-quarters of his life. It was September 2010 and Roy Hodgson was no longer in charge of Liverpool, but excitement was growing among the fans. With the new season just weeks away, fans are already looking forward to the end of the season as trophy-hungry Liverpool host Northampton Town in the third round of the League Cup.
The match will be used as a precursor to how the club’s standards will drop during Hodgson’s six months of turmoil.It was one of the best nights in history for the Bootleggers, a club who tested their chances of conquering European football five years ago when they were beaten by a League Two side. David N’Gogh’s header temporarily put Liverpool in red as they sent the game into extra time, two goals apiece in 120 minutes of action. Determined to make a good impression, Eccleston took the opportunity to shirk many of the responsibilities of his senior players. In his first game at Anfield, he found himself in the penalty shootout and went all the way to the end of the Kop. Miss and Northampton would be rewarded with a successful penalty in one of the great strikes in English football. By scoring a point, he will have a memorable experience that no one can take away from him.”I stammered as usual, ‘Yeah, he scored the Kop goal’,” he recalls. “It was a picture and I remember putting my hand over my face when it was raining.“I remember Kop saying my name encouragingly. When I was 15 and I went to my first game against Liverpool, born in Manchester, I said: “Liverpool have the best fans in the world.
“Eccleston, a product of Bury’s youth academy, moved to the Reds as a promising 15-year-old, his impressive record at youth level attracting interest from North West sides. Brought up in Newton Heaton, his father, a Manchester United supporter, fed him exciting news from the M62. Eccleston was surprised.”As you can imagine, it’s amazing for a 15-year-old from Manchester to be called up by Liverpool.” said Eccleston, who turns 33 today. “Then I felt that Liverpool were interested in me and wanted me. I started to cry.
I knew what a great opportunity it was for a kid like me to be able to bring my skills to the club and showcase.” Like Liverpool. “Liverpool won the Champions League that summer and everyone in football was a Liverpool fan, whether they were Liverpool fans or not, because that night in Istanbul was historic.”After rapidly rising through the ranks to international recognition with England Under-17s in just four years, Eccleston surprisingly earned a first-team place in Rafa Benitez’s final season at Anfield in 2009. Despite Arsene Wenger’s men overcoming a Liverpool side who stumbled at the first hurdle on their way to the Anfield Cup trophy, it was a moment never to be forgotten for Eccleston, who played the final two minutes after replaced Philippe. “There were some young players I knew like Martin (Kelly) and Jay (Spearing) so I was there with them,” he says.
The crowd became quite depressed, and the public was excluded from the famous Anfield, and Nathan Eccleston opened the door to reveal four years of loyalty.”I thought my world was over because I had to register as a professional football player, regardless of your age.” It refers to ultrasound in a special interview. The then 19-year-old striker had the easy task of converting a free-kick from 12 yards.
Aged just 18, he was part of the Reds’ Champions League squad in the 2009/10 season. I had to work as a professional football and I scored in place.
