Richard Wellens

The Mancunian started life at United before playing almost 700 games at Blackpool, Oldham Athletic, Doncaster Rovers, Leicester City and Shrewsbury Town. He’s now pulling the strings in the midfield for Salford City. Andy Mitten spoke to him.

“After 698 Football League appearances, I recently joined Salford City in the National League North. I really wanted to reach that 700 game milestone and at 36 and playing well, I still felt I had time, but despite having offers from other Football League clubs, the Salford idea appealed. They’re ambitious and play close to my home. The involvement of the former Manchester United players also helped make up my mind. I’m a United fan who grew up watching the team and then starting playing for them. I trained a lot with the class of ’92 lads – I also wish that I’d listened to them a little more when I was a young professional at United.

I didn’t because everything came easy to me. I expected to make United’s first team and play with all the lads from the Class of ’92 who’d made it there. They were only 22 or 23, but seemed like superstars who also played for England. They were untouchable and I thought I knew best, that my ability would be enough to get me in the first team with them. But I should have been copying them and asking them for advice to become a better player and a better person. But I can look back on a very enjoyable football career and know I’ve been fortunate.

I grew up in Moston, North Manchester, a working class area close to FC United’s new ground. My parents couldn’t afford to take me to Old Trafford as a kid but I watched games on television. I was mesmerized by Norman Whiteside’s winning goal in the ’85 Cup final. My mum copied it on a video recorder and I used to watch it after school every night. Then she taped over it with her favourite song, ‘The Power of Love’ by Jennifer Rush. She said we couldn’t afford to buy more video tapes. I still know the lyrics to that song.

My hero was Bryan Robson and I got to meet him when I signed schoolboy forms with United at 14. He was my dad’s hero too. I stood and stared at him. Only last year, I saw him in Manchester Airport. I was with a footballer who knew him and they chatted. I was going to ask him for a photo but I couldn’t do it.

Robbo was still playing when I first joined United. Brian Kidd was working as a scout and he spotted me. I’m glad he did because football kept me out of trouble. I’d been a naughty boy at school and was expelled. Football was what I was good at and I always thought I’d make it at United.

I also played for England as a kid and when I was old enough United gave me a four-year professional contract. Maybe they knew that I had offers from other clubs including Liverpool and Everton. I had ability, but looking back I didn’t have the professionalism and attitude at that stage in my career.

United tried to keep their young players grounded. I used to clean the dressing rooms and I remember the youth coach Eric Harrison giving us the all clear to go home one day. Wes Brown and I walked to a bus stop in Salford and waited for a bus to Manchester. A big BMW stopped and the window went down. It was Alex Ferguson asking us where we were going. We said ‘town’ (Manchester) and he told us to get in. I was reluctant because my trainers were covered in mud and my heart sank when I opened the back doors to see cream seats and plush cream carpets.

I tried to keep my feet off the floor for the 15-minute journey. Sir Alex was asking us if we knew the music he had on. It was Neil Diamond, but none of us knew it. He loved Neil Diamond. I was more concerned about my muscles, which were hurt from lifting my legs in the air. By the time we reached Manchester I was in agony and desperate for the journey to end, but I couldn’t put my dirty trainers on Fergie’s carpets. I couldn’t take the pain any more and had to rest my feet on the carpets. When I got out of the car at Piccadilly bus station, I saw I’d left two dirty big footprints. I didn’t say anything and hoped he didn’t notice. He never said anything, but if he reads this, I’m really sorry.

Fergie was good with me. I was going out socialising too much and I was convicted of drink driving. I was doing my chances of staying at United no favours at all. Fergie released players for less, but he persisted with me and gave me my debut in 1999 against Aston Villa in the League Cup at Villa Park. I came on that night and looked at the scoreboard, it was like a dream. I played alongside Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who’d won us the treble a few months before.

That was it as far as my United first team chances went and I was allowed to leave the following year. I joined Blackpool and it was a huge culture shock. We changed in temporary buildings and I quickly thought to myself, ‘If I don’t put a shift in then I’m going to be out of professional football’. I’d seen so many players leave the game for many reasons and I was on my way to being one of them. I took three or four games to get used to the faster tempo of life at Blackpool where you got less time on the ball and the game was played at 100 miles per hour, but from then on I was comfortable in the first team. I knew that only hard work and application could bring success.

I stayed at Blackpool for five years and played almost 200 games. I was there from age 20 to 25 and I stayed too long. I had offers to leave for bigger clubs at 22. Crystal Palace and Bristol City wanted me, but Blackpool had to give 50% of any transfer fee to United and were reluctant to sell me. I also didn’t want to move to the south and I was enjoying my football too much at Blackpool. I was player of the year, we won promotion and I was named in the PFA team of the second division.

I ended up leaving for Oldham Athletic so I could be close to my family in Manchester. Things went well, I made League One’s team of the year three times in four years before moving to Doncaster and helping them get promotion to the Championship.

Sean O’Driscoll was my Doncaster manager and he really made a difference to me. He said to me: ‘why are you not a Premier League player?’ I couldn’t answer him. The next day he told me why. Not only did he give me guidance tactically and freedom to express myself more, but he expected a reaction when I lost the ball. Previously, I thought that was the job of other players, that I didn’t have to get the ball back. I soon changed, chased the balls back and became a better player.

Doncaster were doing well. We had a new stadium, we’d beaten Leeds United at Wembley in front of 80,000 to be promoted, we had a really good team that would have pushed for the Premier League if we’d had a goalscorer. Ironically, they’d sell me to Leicester for £1.2 million in 2009 and use the money to buy one.

When I arrived at Leicester there were more staff than players and I thought: ‘What’s going on here?’ But (manager) Nigel Pearson was brilliant with his preparation and the sports scientists were key to it all. They’d even test your urine and because you felt looked after, you were free to focus on football.

Jamie Vardy joined us too from non-league Fleetwood Town. He’s down to earth, the type of lad you’d kick a ball about with your mates in the street. He got caught offside too much when he came to us, but he improved and he’s a great lad whose confidence has shot up.

I stayed for four years, playing in two Championship play offs. Leicester finally got promoted to the Premier League the year after I left. Having ruptured my cruciate ligament, I went back to Doncaster and I wasn’t fit enough. If I had been then we wouldn’t have gone down.

I played at Oldham Athletic again and Shrewsbury Town last season before joining Salford. I still love playing football and want to stay involved in it in some capacity. I’ve done my coaching badges, so who knows what the future will bring?”