Manchester : Salford City captain Curtis Tilt was 16 when he went to work in a quarry, operating 50 tonne excavators and eating pies and sausage rolls from a food truck during his breaks, all the while believing he had played his last football match.
Far from it. On Saturday, his League Two team will take on Premier League champions Manchester City at Etihad Stadium in the third round of the FA Cup.
The 33-year-old centre back will have the enormous task of trying to stop one of the game’s best goal-scorers in Erling Haaland.
“Many have tried, many have failed, but at least I’ll just try and do what I can to stop him scoring any goals or getting any attempts on our goal,” Tilt said.
“(I am) Very excited. Everyone’s been buzzing around the training ground for the last two, three days now, just can’t wait to test ourselves against the best.”
Tilt’s story is something of a fairytale that captures the uniqueness of the FA Cup, which pits underdogs against giants.