I made my Man United Premier League debut with Marcus Rashford - but now I've already retired

Marcus Rashford's Premier League debut is a well-known tale - it occurred just three days after his first-ever senior appearance for the club. However, less known is the story of another academy graduate who also made his debut that day.

While Louis van Gaal gave a second chance to a young Rashford, who had just turned out in a Europa League tie against FC Midtjylland 72 hours earlier, James Weir was dealing with his own nerves. Manchester United were leading Arsenal 3-2, thanks to two goals from Rashford - making it four in less than 150 senior minutes for the club - when Van Gaal looked to his bench.

Despite having other options, Van Gaal chose midfielder Weir. Ander Herrera, on a yellow card and having scored, was replaced by Weir, marking his first and only appearance for the first team.

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His time with the Red Devils didn't last much longer, as he left for Hull just six months later, where he struggled with injuries and saw little playtime.

Despite captaining the Under-21s side at Carrington to a league victory, he never got another shot at top-tier football, missing Hull's entire season before their relegation. Aged just 28, he retired after stints at Wigan and Bolton, as well as overseas with MTK Budapest, FC ViOn, and Pohronie.

Weir still recalls the season he was involved in senior action at United. "I was on the bench for about 10 games," he shared with the Guardian.

"It was a bit of a whirlwind – it feels like a lifetime ago.

"My debut was an out‐of-body experience but they were the best moments of my career. Being in the squad and exposed to a club that size was incredible. I wouldn't change that minute for anything."

In a previous chat with Planet Football, he elaborated on his brief appearance. "Usually, you start warming up after 25 minutes or go for a little run to get the manager's attention, but it was different with Van Gaal," he explained.

"You had to wait until he told you to warm up, which meant he was then likely to send you on. After about 75 or 80 minutes he told me to warm up and then someone shouted down the touchline to me to come back to the technical area. I was thinking, 'Bloody hell, I am going to come on here'.

"My parents were there, but the whole thing was so quick – the adrenaline saw me through and I can't remember much about it, apart from standing with Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Paddy McNair at the final whistle, trying to take it all in."

Reflecting on his fleeting but memorable appearance in the Premier League for Manchester United, the player expressed a mix of pride and humour, saying: "I can tell my children and grandchildren that I played for Manchester United in the Premier League – although I may not mention the one-minute bit! " In an interview with the Manchester Evening News, he went on to describe the intensity of the moment: "At the time you're thinking 'don't mess up', it was 3-2, I was just thinking 'run around and do what you can' and then it was over.

"I came on for Herrera and he came up to me and said 'fight! ' It was typical of him. I remember that clearly. In terms of the coaches, I think it was more just 'don't mess up'.

"Ander was a good guy. He was all emotion and passion, there was no holding back."

The surreal atmosphere during manager Louis van Gaal's theatrics was not lost on him either, as he recounted: "It was a crazy day, Van Gaal did that impression of Alexis Sanchez on the touchline [when he fell to the ground]. I was warming up at the time, I thought a fight was going on or something, I only saw it afterwards."

On the subject of fellow Red Marcus Rashford, he shared his personal connections and the striker's meteoric rise: "For Marcus to score twice was surreal really. It made the day even more special. I was a bit older than him, but we were in the same digs together for a couple of years. We used to play FIFA together and go out for food, but I didn't play with him too much as I was a bit older than him.

"When he got to the reserves we had a couple of games, but he was straight through to the first team really. He missed that period because we had no strikers at the time, he went on to take his chance and the rest is history. We all knew he was the top one in his age group and that he was always destined to reach pretty good heights."

Weir's youth team featured an array of talented players, including the likes of Pereira, Will Keane, Tyler Blackett, and Dean Henderson. He also shared the pitch with notable names such as Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick, Scott McTominay, Jesse Lingard and Antonio Valencia at one point.

However, Weir has now chosen to hang up his boots and start a new career as a travel agent. In an interview with The Guardian, he explained: "I can still play football at some level but playing at a professional level day in and day out, my body didn't have that. It was not worth the sacrifice of living away anymore. I thought I needed to cut the cord early and move on to something else."

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