17. Russell Beardsmore

Signed from: Youth team

Debut: 2-0 win vs West Ham United (as sub), September 24th 1988
League Record: 30 games (+26 as sub), 4 goals
Sold to: AFC Bournemouth (free transfer), June 1993

One of the many things I love about football is that sometimes, even the obscure players rise to the top and have their moment of glory. Russell Beardsmore was one, and his moment was January 1st 1989.

We were playing Liverpool - reigning League champions and top dogs. We were struggling. It was live on TV and I remember watching it clearly. I recall my cousin, an ardent Liverpool fan, stating they would drub us and I had no reason to disbelieve him, and sure enough, in the second half John Barnes put them ahead.

But then an odd thing happened. Our waif-like young right-winger suddenly turned into George Best, jinxing through their defence before crossing for McClair to equalise. After Mark Hughes put us ahead, Beardsmore completed an amazing ten minutes or so by vollying Lee Sharpe's centre to make it 3-1. I was dancing round the living room, shouting the scoreline to the next door neighbours (also Liverpool fans). It was something of a false start to the year, but Beardsmore's reputation rose - Bob Paisley selected him as Young Player of the Month - and the departure of Gordon Strachan left a space for him to fill. For a spell, he was a regular face in the first XI or on the subs bench, but it wasn't a great time: the last 11 games of that season saw us only win twice and only score eight goals.

Perhaps with that in mind, we signed four new midfield players in the summer of 1989, pushing him out of contention once all were fit and settled, meaning he didn't make the cut for the 1990 FA Cup final or the European Cup Winners Cup the next season and barely featured at all throughout 1991/92, though his status as an English player got him on the bench of the  European Super Cup that season. Though at that time played over two legs (home and away), we were up against Red Star Belgrade, and the situation in what used to be Yugoslavia wasn't too welcoming, so UEFA decided to just have a one-off game at Old Trafford. We got completely battered for most of the game, but somehow sneaked a 1-0 victory with a Brian McClair goal: a result which may well still baffle some reds. In any case, though he didn't get on the pitch, the result got Russell his own medal from his time at United.

Shortly after we won our first championship in 26 years in 1993, I read somewhere that Beardsmore had been given a free transfer. I was a bit surprised as he'd not played at all that season (he may have been an unused sub in some cup games?), so I'd assumed he'd either quit or left the year below.

He signed up with AFC Bournemouth and enjoyed five years of regular first team football, before serious injury forced him to retire at the age of 28. He's still on the South coast, working for his old club in some worthwhile Community projects, and is seemingly still a United fan, as he was nicked, fined and banned from driving after overdosing on the refreshments while celebrating our 2008 Champions League victory and then trying to drive home.