FORMER Manchester City prospect Curtis Anderson went from Under-17s World Cup glory with England to an office job within the space of five years.
Anderson, 22, played a key role in the Young Lions' 2017 triumph with some crucial saves as he denied a penalty and scored another in the quarter-final shoot-out against Japan before the final versus Spain.
He stood out for Steve Cooper's side alongside the likes of Jadon Sancho, Phil Foden, Conor Gallagher, Marc Guehi, Morgan Gibbs-White, Emile Smith Rowe and Callum Hudson-Odoi – all of whom now play in the Premier League.
The goalkeeper – who now plays for Non-League side Bootle FC – appeared to be on the way up as he impressed City manager Pep Guardiola, who named him as his third choice at the Etihad.
However, it all started to go south at the age of 19 when Blackburn expressed an interest in signing him during the January transfer window.
Man City told him to stay on until the end of the season, but he insisted on a move to Ewood Park – which never materialised.
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Anderson told The Times: “Me being a kid and thinking I knew everything, I was like, no, I need to go and play.
“Blackburn were clearly there — why not train, stay earning this money and go to Blackburn at the end of the season? Nobody told me to do that.”
That led Anderson moving across the pond to Charlotte Independence, which was a second-tier club in the United States.
Celtic's former youth coach Jim McGuinness attracted him to Charlotte after he was appointed manager and thought he would help him move to the MLS.
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But McGuinness was sacked just three months later and the shot-stopper only managed 11 appearances before his departure a few months later.
Anderson added: "Going to America stopped my momentum. Coming back to England during Covid killed me.
"I went from loving football, ages eight to 18, to thinking, 'This isn't what I thought it was'.
"Whether it's unlucky, unfortunate, wrong decisions here or there, people not helping, whatever you want to call it, it's not great. I sometimes struggle with how I feel about it."
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Anderson returned to England for Wycombe in the Championship but was quickly sent out on loan to non-league sides Walton Casuals and Eastbourne Borough before his departure on January 31.
He joined Lancaster City and that is when he decided to look for a different career in finance as he wanted more stability in his life.
Anderson now works as a financial adviser for Markland Hill Wealth in Lancaster – and he is the only one from that England Under-17 side that is no longer active in football.
However, he admitted he "struggled" watching former team-mates, like Foden and Gallagher, getting called up by England manager Gareth Southgate for the 2022 World Cup.
And he stayed behind watching his buddies compete in Qatar during his lunch break at the office wondering what could have been.
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Anderson said: "I really struggled [during the World Cup] because I was seeing so many of my old team-mates and people I had spent a lot of time with.
"And then there's me, sat at home watching on TV, thinking, 'How has this ended up happening?'"
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