CARL MAGNAY lived a young footballer’s dream when he won a competition to sign for Chelsea.
Out of thousands of applicants between the ages of 16 and 18, he claimed a six-month contract at Stamford Bridge after starring on Sky Sports‘ Football Icon 2 show.
He jumped from playing for Birtley Town U17s as a regular sixth form student, to rubbing shoulders with Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and John Terry on a daily basis.
During the final stages of Football Icon 2, he was invited to train alongside Jose Mourinho‘s first-team squad.
And the centre-back, 35, admits it was an incredible experience to see Chelsea‘s superstars at work.
Speaking to Football London, he said: “It was surreal. You’ve got no option but to take it in your stride. Like I said, looking back now I didn’t know it at the time, I had a strong mentality and I was quite level headed.
“Chelsea’s first-team players were really respectful. They were just going about their daily jobs and their routines. I remember sitting in the canteen and I’m sharing an area where we’re all eating.
“It took me about an hour to eat my food because I was just looking round the room staring at people.
“Lampard going up to get food and get a plate of second and I’m looking at his physical stature thinking ‘look at the size of his quads’ and I was just in awe of everything that was going on around me.
“It was really surreal but I knew I was there and had to prove myself and when you got on the pitch you had to push all that to one side and just focus on the session.
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“I think I did that really well to be fair.”
Magnay ended up spending four years at Chelsea and played under a number of high-profile managers including Mourinho, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Carlo Ancelotti.
However, he failed to secure a single first-team appearance and left in 2011 to join non-league side Gateshead.
He went on to feature for Grimsby, Hartlepool, Spennymoor Town, before he returned to Gateshead in 2022.
The defender, who earned one cap for Northern Ireland’s U21s, retired last year and is now Gateshead manager.