Ex-Man Utd ace who played in Champions League quit football aged 27 to become builder

Lee Roche was expecting to have an extended football career when making his Champions League debut for Manchester United - but his life turned out very differently.

Roche started his career as a trainee with one of the biggest clubs in world football and made a League Cup debut against Arsenal before his European bow, making five first-team appearances before joining Wrexham on loan.

The youngster played 41 times in north Wales before returning to United, but was released just two years later before joining Burnley - calling it quits at 27 after a permanent spell with Wrexham and non-league Droylsden.

Roche, who was also an England youth international, found his calling on a building site where he quickly forged a career with the help of PFA guidance having had nothing in place for life after football.

Having been in the plans of Sir Alex Ferguson and playing alongside the likes of Ryan Giggs and Diego Forlan, the defender admitted he wasn't expecting to end up a builder.

He told LFETV: "Definitely not. Especially when you sign for a club as big as Manchester United. You think you're going to be playing football until you're 35.

"The way things have turned out I've had to work, I've been working here for nearly three years and it's a bit of a change from playing football but you just have to get on with it.

He added: "I can only speak from my experience where I've come out the game and had to think about what I was going to do. I did okay at school and worked hard but never had a plan of what I wanted to go in to."

His only European fixture ended on a bad note, with Deportivo winning 2-0, but United went on to reach the quarter-finals after topping the group.

Other team-mates included Nicky Butt, Phil Neville and John O'Shea during his Champions League outing, as well as Darren Ferguson and Carlos Edwards during his time in Wales.

Now 42, Roche was recently reported to be installing cavity walls as well as plumbing as part of his own business - with colleagues still asking about his playing days.

Speaking to Planet Football, the ex-United man said: “I have had a few fellow workers on the building sites asking me about United and how have I ended up here.

“It can get pretty tiresome so I don’t go shouting about that I played for United.”