Ben’s on track for football stardom

HOW many young boys in Oldham want to be professional footballers? Thousands?

And how many want to play for Manchester United? Still thousands!

For Chadderton teenager Ben Pearson at least the first part of that dream has come true: the second could well follow in the next couple of years.

Pearson (18), is a former Boundary Park Juniors and Crompton House School midfielder who has just signed a professional contract with the premier league champions.

He was first spotted and signed by United 10 years ago and now, after soaking up the best coaching and guidance Old Trafford had to offer, captained the England under-18s against Belgium recently.

Regularly compared to Reds legend and Athletic fan Paul Scholes, Pearson appears to have a bright future. Arguably his biggest achievement so far came three weeks ago when he won United’s Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award for 2013. Paul Scholes is a previous winner... as are Ryan Giggs, Phil Neville, Wes Brown and Danny Welbeck, to name a few.

Having already represented United’s under-21 and reserve sides, a first-team call-up from new boss David Moyes can’t be too far away.

The young midfielder seemingly has the world at his feet - and his story is all the more remarkable because he has battled back from serious illness.

Midway through the 2011-12 season he was struck down by glandular fever, which put him out of action for five months.

“This time last year I wouldn’t have believed I’d be in this position,” he said.

“I’d been stuck at home for three months fed up, but since I came back the team has helped me a lot and helped me to really push on.”

He added, examining the trophy: “I’m massively proud. Just look at some of the names on there.

“I guess I’m just hoping to carry on in some of those footsteps now. Other players could have won this award, so I’m just grateful I got it in the end. There’s a great team spirit here. A lot of us have been together since we were eight or nine.”

Roy Wrigley, Boundary Park Juniors chairman, remembers Pearson well, even though he only spent two trophy-laden seasons (at under-seven and under-eight level) with the club before the scouts came calling.

Roy said: “I remember being gutted when Ben left us. He was definitely a bit special back then. As a player he was brilliant and he was a lovely kid too.

“He stood out in that very successful team and I always felt he had the potential to hopefully go on and make it big. He had everything.”

Pearson attended Crompton House school for a couple of years from the age of 11 before moving south Manchester part-time, to be nearer United’s Carrington training ground.

The school’s head of PE, Neil Wheelton, recalls a clever player in the same vein as hero Scholes.

“Ben was an exceptional player,” said Neil. “He was a very mature lad in terms of his understanding of the game, even at that age. He was skilful and tenacious, but the main strength was Ben’s intelligence.

“His mind was sharp and he read and understood the game brilliantly. He was always very aware of what was going on around him.

“He was in a great Year Seven team. We reached the latter stages of the English Schools’ Cup and Ben was our icing on the cake. We won local leagues and cups and he always played an instrumental role in those successes.”

Wheelton is confident Pearson is set for a glittering career: “Ben’s got to take a quantum leap now, it’ll be very competitive at United. But he’s capable of making that step up, and I know people at the club have genuine high hopes for him.”

Remember the name – Ben Pearson.