Former Manchester United kid got ‘tired’ of Old Trafford but now hopes to follow mate Jamie Vardy’s route to stardom
Danny Rowe is the National League's top scorer and can take another step back towards the big time if AFC Fylde KO Wigan
DANNY ROWE was on course to be an Old Trafford legend.
He is unquestionably a natural goal scorer, which is why he was on Manchester United’s books for five years.
In 2016 he hit the net no less than 55 times, and is currently the National League’s top scorer and AFC Fylde’s all-time record hit man.
And when he was first signed from Preston as an 11-year-old his dream was to star at the Theatre of Dreams.
But those strike figures only indicate what might have been as United let him go after he lost his passion for the game.
Twelve years on after turning down the easy way, the striker is now trying to do it the hard way.
Or, like his former team-mate, the Vard way.
While at Fleetwood he trained with Jamie Vardy, the poster boy for the progression from non-league to Premier League.
COUGH UP Antoine Griezmann ‘asks’ Barcelona to pay £87m Atletico Madrid release clause
And scoring the winner against Wigan to send Fylde into the FA Cup third round would not be a bad way to help finally make it big.
But this time, he swears, he would love every minute of it.
He said: “I was going to United four times a week.
“We lived in Blackpool and my mum and dad would be driving me there and to begin with it was great.
“But slowly I just got tired of it, lost my focus, just sort of gave up.
“I don’t really know how or why but I just wasn’t enjoying it and it showed.
“In the end United let me go as a 16-year-old and I don’t blame them. When it happened there were no regrets, there was no pressure from my parents.
“They knew, just like United, that my heart just wasn’t in it.
“At the age of ten or eleven I’d score 100 goals in a season and set all kinds of records but, at United, in the end I just didn’t want to do it any more.”
Rowe later found himself at local side Blackpool Wren Rovers and started banging ‘em in again, before moves to Fleetwood, Lincoln and then Fylde in 2014.
His goals have helped the steady rise of the Coasters, who welcome League One leaders Latics to their new state-of-the-art Mill Farm Stadium tonight.
The 28-year-old is making waves again and a £50,000 bid from Oldham was turned down in the summer.
But the forward who left United to do a joinery apprenticeship has built the framework for belated Football League success.
He said: “Fylde have been good to me and gave me a new contract this summer so when they turned down Oldham I didn’t complain.
most read in football
“When I was young around our way I was ‘the kid who played at Manchester United.’
“But it is never too late and I look at Jamie Vardy and Andre Gray — they came through from non–league so maybe I’ll still get to score goals at the highest level like them.
“I fell out of love with the game once. Now I love it more than ever.”
Keep up to date with ALL the transfer news and gossip on our blog