Manchester United defender Tyler Blackett admits it was football or bust for him.
Despite pursuing an education at St Anthony's School in Urmston before graduating from Ashton Sixth Form College, all while ascending the many ranks of United's own Academy, Blackett was impressively single-minded when confronted by the careers officer in his teenage years.
"My whole childhood revolved around the game and I always wanted to play professionally," he told United Review, the club's official matchday programme. "I never had a back-up plan for what I might do if things didn't work out at United. It was always about playing football for me and I was determined to make it happen. It was basically football or nothing, which might have been risky but that was how I saw it. Thankfully, it seems to be working out for me."
