Oliver Gill made a bold choice when he decided to turn down a Manchester
United contract and decided to go to university instead.
Not many footballers even get as playing for the under 18s at their team, let alone making the bench for a team in a Champions League game, even if it was a dead rubber.
In December 2009 Oliver Gill, son of former Manchester United chief executive David, found himself on the bench when Manchester United faced Wolfsburg, a match that Michael Owen's hat-trick gave all three points to the Red Devils.
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But 18 months later he'd rejected a new deal at Old Trafford instead going to university to study economics. Now working in assurance for PricewaterhouseCoopers the 26 year-old spoke to the Independent about his decision to quit one of the biggest teams in the world for university:
"It was a really tough decision. I've been asked a lot of time why I did it and no one has ever said "that's a good decision" but I would stick by it. I occasionally regret it when I am working long hours now, but I haven't regretted it too much."
Gill on one of his four occasions on the bench for United. Image: PA Images.
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Gill went on loan for a month to then League Two Bradford City where he realised that the thought of not making it at Premier League level, and falling down the ladder, put him off being a professional footballer:
"Men's football was a good learning curve, it didn't put me off, but it maybe made me realise it wasn't the life I wanted. It was not the same as training at Carrington, we were training at some local school, there wasn't a gym. It was the other - more lowly side - of football, so it was eye opening in the other direction...
"...I wouldn't say there was one moment when I didn't make a squad and thought I needed to get out of there or anything like that. It was more going on loan and realising I wasn't going to get to get to the level I wanted to; I wasn't going to be a Premier League player - I could see where my limitations were. I realised I wasn't going to be a Manchester United player, and I could see my friends having fun and I had to decide what life I wanted for myself.
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Watching footy with his dad. Image: PA Images.
"I wanted to give university a chance and thought I'd enjoy myself there, not that I didn't enjoy my second year full-time at United, but I could see I wasn't going to be playing for Manchester United or playing in a Premier League team, I would be off playing somewhere I didn't want to play in the lower leagues and that didn't attract me as much.
"If I could make the decision again, I wouldn't change it, it was the right one for me, even if it's not for everyone."
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Football isn't always the be all and end all for everyone.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Football News, Football, Manchester United