Cristiano Ronaldo's former Manchester United teammate now sells milk

Posted Tuesday, September 28, 2021 by Marca.com

Former Manchester United academy star Richard Eckersley failed to forge career in football

Richard Eckersley

Richard Eckersley was once a promising midfielder within Manchester United's academy, yet the former player has admitted that he has gone from training with Cristiano Ronaldo to selling milk.

Eckersley made his debut for United in 2009, although his final professional game came in 2015 with Oldham Athletic.

"Oldham had no money or hope, I was coming back from a wedding, we had a newborn baby and I told my wife I wanted to quit football," Eckersley detailed in an interview with The Athletic.

"It was a relief, I had enough money to last six months or a year.

"I've been thinking about Cristiano Ronaldo being back at United, the last time he was there I was there, I was training with him, and now I'm a dairyman and I sell oat milk."

When asked on the details of his life now, the former midfielder was quick to point towards the serenity of his life as something which brings him happiness.

"We have our own house, our garden and we grow our own food," Eckersley continued.

"It's a town without roads, a community of about 40 people with everything vegetarian and 100 percent organic.

"We're producing 25,000 litres of milk per month in glass bottles, everything is reusable and it's a circular business model, we have 22 employees and we want to be the largest milk distributor in the UK in the next five years."