Marcus Rashford was the player with whom I made my Premier League debut at Manchester United; however, I have since retired.

Marcus Rashford was the player with whom I made my Premier League debut at Manchester United; however, I have since retired.

Marcus Rashford’s Premier League debut is a well-known story; it transpired three days following his initial senior appearance for the club. Nevertheless, the narrative of an additional academy graduate who also made his debut on that day is less well-known.

James Weir was contending with his own anxieties as Louis van Gaal granted a second opportunity to a young Rashford, who had recently played in a Europa League match against FC Midtjylland 72 hours prior.

Manchester United was dominating Arsenal 3-2, with two goals from Rashford, which brought the club’s total to four in less than 150 senior minutes. Van Gaal then turned to his bench. Van Gaal selected midfielder Weir in spite of the fact that he had other alternatives.

Weir replaced Ander Herrera, who had scored and was on a yellow card, making his first and only appearance for the first team.

He was only with the Red Devils for six months before departing for Hull, where he encountered numerous injuries and received minimal playing time.

He was unable to secure another opportunity to play in the top division of football, as he missed the entirety of Hull’s season prior to their relegation, despite leading the Under-21s to a league victory at Carrington. After spells at Wigan and Bolton, as well as overseas with MTK Budapest, FC

ViOn, and Pohronie, he retired at the age of 28.Among the talented players on Weir’s junior team were Pereira, Will Keane, Tyler Blackett, and Dean Henderson. At one stage, he also shared the pitch with renowned figures such as Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick, Scott McTominay, Jesse Lingard, and Antonio Valencia.

Nevertheless, Weir has now elected to retire from his position and embark on a new career as a travel agent. He provided an explanation to The Guardian in an interview:

“I am still capable of playing football at a certain level; however, my body was not capable of performing at a professional level on a daily basis.

” The sacrifice of living afar was no longer worthwhile. I believed it was necessary to terminate the connection early and transition to a different endeavour.