Featured Image Credit: Getty Images
Topics: Manchester United, Premier League, QPR, EFL Championship, Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsenal
Jack Kenmare
Topics: Manchester United, Premier League, QPR, EFL Championship, Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsenal
The date is August 21, 1999, and referee Graham Poll has just blown his whistle to signal full-time at a deflated Highbury.
After a typically gutsy display, Sir Alex Ferguson and his Manchester United side are celebrating a 2-1 win over their bitter rivals thanks, in part, to captain Roy Keane, who scored two second-half goals to secure all three points.
Dennis Bergkamp had given Arsenal the lead, but the Reds fought back in style. It was a far-from-straightforward game, however, and with seconds remaining in North London, goalkeeper Raimond van der Gouw was forced off through injury.
Peter Schmeichel, who had been so instrumental in the previous campaign, had left the club following United's treble triumph, meaning York-born shot-stopper Nick Culkin was destined to make his Premier League debut with moments remaining.
Advert
Culkin, who left boyhood club York to join United's youth system in 1995, was finally given his opportunity after being named among the substitutes by Ferguson.
"The gaffer just turned round to me and said, 'Nick, get yourself ready, you're going on,' Culkin recalled when speaking to Manchester United's official website. "So I just got my training kit off. I had my shin pads on already anyway. No warm-up, just get dressed and on you go."
But immediately after coming on, the inexperienced goalkeeper took his first kick of the ball – a free kick awarded for Martin Keown's foul on Van der Gouw – and Poll blew the full-time whistle.
In total, Culkin's debut lasted just two seconds, which remains the record for the shortest Premier League debut in history. "Unfortunately or fortunately – unfortunately if you ask me – the game ended immediately," he said.
"I celebrated like we'd won the World Cup. I ran off with my arm up like Alan Shearer!"
So what does he remember about that day? A clean-sheet bonus springs to mind, as well as Sir Bobby Charlton's reaction to the cameo.
"I've still got the wage slip at home," Culkin said. "I got the win bonus, which I think was around 600 quid at the time, so I made about 1,100 quid in one kick, so that was my next summer holiday paid for.
"I remember walking into the dressing room and Sir Bobby Charlton laughing with me. I ended up having the shortest-ever United career and the shortest-ever Premier League career, two records which will never be beaten."
For Culkin, that would be his first and only kick of a football in the Premier League.
He would spend several loan spells away from Old Trafford before joining Championship side QPR in 2002. Then, after three seasons and 22 league appearances, he was forced to retire due to a knee injury at the age of just 26.
Culkin did return to non-league football in 2010, where he played for Radcliffe and Prescot Cables before setting another record.
In 2014, he joined FC United of Manchester – the club set up in 2006 to oppose Malcolm Glazer's leveraged buyout takeover of Manchester United. As a result, Culkin became the first player to make a competitive appearance for both FC United and Manchester United.
After his professional playing days ended, Culkin set up his own gardening business, and told QPR's official website in 2012: "I fell into this work after helping out a friend a few years ago.
"I decided that I quite enjoyed being out in the fresh air. So I set my own business up and it has taken off. I maintain gardens on a regular basis and make them look nice."