United Masters crash out with squad of unknowns

Brian Carey in action
By Chris,
July 27 2008

There was disappointment for Manchester United in the North West Masters competition on Saturday evening. The Red Devils, regional champions last season, were eliminated following narrow defeats against Leeds and Manchester City. Only club historians will have heard of most of the names in action for MUFC – a nine-man squad which was the youngest in the history of Masters Football.

"You don't win nothing with Kids" - the infamous words of Alan Hansen before United's youngsters swept all aside to win a series of honours in the mid-90s.

However, in terms of Masters Football, the Scotsman may have made a good point! The game's selection committee are determined to find new players each year and United's squad turned out to be the youngest in the nine-season history of the Masters game.

The list of players picked for United was also notable for another reason - hardly anyone knows who most of them are! The tournament organisers appear determined to suck all of the fun from Masters Football by picking players with little affinity to their selected clubs.

United's nine-man squad was as follows. How many can you remember?: 

Phil Hughes - Northern Irish goalkeeper who was a trainee at United. Travelled to the 1986 World Cup with the Ulstermen but never played first-team football for the Red Devils.

Colin McKee - Versatile Scottish forward who spent two years with United in the 1990s and went onto play for a host of Scottish clubs. Played in the famous 1992 Youth Cup winning side - but made just one senior appearance for United.

Neil Whitworth - Left the club for Kilmarnock at the same time as McKee for a combined fee or £350,000. The centre-half also made just one United appearance. Whitworth finished his career with Southport.

Craig Lawton - Another trainee who left the club without a senior appearance to his name. Lawton joins Port Vale in 1994 where he made only three league appearances. He then joined Colwyn Bay for six seasons before moving into the Welsh pyramid. He now plays for Bala Town of the Cymru Alliance.

Sean McAuley - The 36-year-old is the current Academy Manager of Sheffield Wednesday. He was a trainee at United between 1990 and 1992 but didn't play for the first XI - eventually leaving the club to join St.Johnstone.

Wayne Bullimore - A member of United's youth ranks between 1989 and 1991, the midfielder didn't play a game for Manchester United but eventually broke into the first-team at Scunthorpe. His career ended with Yorkshire club Stocksbridge Park Steels.

Guiliano Maiorana - A skilful, diminutive winger of Italian descent who played a few games for United in the late 1980s. Few remember the £30,000 acquisition from Histon - who looked a world-beater in a televised game against Arsenal - and the player was eventually released with just seven games under his belt.

George Switzer - The left-back is currently playing for amateur club Irlam FC in the Manchester Football League and earns his notes as a van driver. He was part of United's youth set-up for over a decade but never registered a first-team appearance. He had spells with Darlington and Hyde Unted.

Brian Carey - Manager of Wrexham between January and November 2007, he's now on the coaching staff with the Racecourse club. United paid £100,000 to Cork City for the defender - but he never made a first-team appearance and left the club aged 25. One of the better known lads in the squad - but not for his time as a Red.

Who are ya? Who are ya?

The North-West regional tournament ha expanded this year - with Oldham and Blackburn entering the fray. That means there's two separate groups each comprising of three teams.

United crashed out at the first hurdle following defeats against Dirty Leeds and City. Both games were close - with United losing 3-2 and 2-1 respectively.

Oldham Athletic won the other group but were beaten by Man City in the final. Without a trophy in 33 years, fans of the Bitter Blues might have to turn to Masters Football in their hunt for silverware!

City now head to September's final in Birmingham alongside Middlesbrough, Bristol City, Tranmere, Glasgow Rangers, Wolves, Leicester and West Ham.