To this day I would love to have taken that option because I would've been in England, playing football where I wanted to be and it would've been easier to make more of a career back home too. Being out there for two years in the reserves definitely effected my chances of returning because I went off the radar. But being part of something at Inter, and training with the team that won the Champions League and the treble under Mourinho is something I can't get my head round to this day.
These days, Greenhalgh is a bit of a jack of all trades. The year-old has been playing non-league football, but he's also an academy manager at Dartford, and in , he even turned pro on the golf scene. He has spent plenty of time in front of the camera.
Greenhalgh moonlights as a Cristiano Ronaldo body double and has done a lot of advertising for adidas as 'guy with sick tekkerz', and he even popped up on ITV gameshow Tenable not too long ago. Greenhalgh is clear about what the future holds.
The Scotsman was another player to pick up trials after his spell on Football's Next Star. He trained with a number of teams in Scotland following the show and also picked up a trial at Cardiff City but eventually, Reece decided to sign for Hamilton Academical.
After impressing at the club, he was on the verge of joining Scottish Premiership side Kilmarnock. Unfortunately he failed his medical because of a hip problem, which he still has to this day. That was the last time McGillion played full-time football after injury issues.
He now plays for amateur side Renfrew Juniors while juggling his full-time job in the Fire Service. To go and live in Lake Como, while playing and training with Inter Milan, was just a surreal experience in itself. The footballing side of it was very intense and challenging but a privilege, even if it was just for a short period. Looking back I feel it helped me mature as a person.
I definitely appreciate it more looking back. It was a once in a life time opportunity that I'm proud I did. Anthony O' Connor Eliminated in episode five. A speedy winger from Wembley , O' Connor was known by many viewers as the guy who compared himself to Thierry Henry and Theo Walcott in episode one. The youngster looked dangerous from wide areas, providing his teammates with several assists, but he was eventually eliminated from Football's Next Star in week five after a game against Inter Milan's Primavera youth team.
Since leaving the show, Anthony has played semi-professional football in the Southern and Isthmian Leagues. The forward has played as far south as Folkestone and as far North as Daventry Town. He's also become a self-confessed "boring" accountant. It was really good, considering I was able to meet Jose [ Mourinho ] and experience the dynamics of a professional football club outside of England.
I learned that it takes an incredible amount of discipline, as well as talent of course, to become a professional footballer and probably more than what I was willing to give at the time of the show. I was extremely cocky at the time and that statement still haunts me to this day. Every year my mate tweets a video of me saying it to take the piss.
Nathan Simpson Eliminated in episode five. A pacey full-back from east London, Simpson was one of the biggest personalities in the group. The young right-back looked a real talent but he was never consistent enough to make it into the final stages.
In week five, after training and playing against Primavera , who are Inter's top youth squad, the Italian coaches opted to send Simpson home after being in the danger zone. There is very little information on Simpson's progress after the show and after trying to get in contact, we still aren't sure if he's currently playing football or not. Gavin Colton Eliminated in episode six.
A no-nonsense centre-back from County Kildare , the defender would always play with his heart on his sleeve, and famously wanted to play on despite breaking his arm against Monza 's youth team in episode four. He was eventually sent home in the penultimate episode after the final five were whittled down to three. Following the show, a number of clubs expressed an interest in Colton but he eventually joined Hull City and "liked it a lot". He was promoted to train with the reserves but it didn't work out at the Championship side.
A two-year deal at Tottenham was on the table from Harry Redknapp. Harry Redknapp was prepared to offer Greenhalgh a two-year deal if he didn't win the show. He openly admits: 'Jamie said if I hadn't won, I could've had a two-year deal at Tottenham. I never look back on it. Football can take you on so many different journeys. Indeed it can. From Brighton's development squad playing with Lewis Dunk, to a period under Butcher at Inverness Caledonian Thistle and then the rigours of sourcing your next paycheck in non-league football, Greenhalgh has seen it all.
We were in the middle of nowhere, we saw each other every day and the best thing was Terry Butcher bought into the culture of the changing room. Terry was one of the most honest, most truthful men. You did not want to do wrong by him or let him down. Let him down he did not, but upon Butcher leaving for Hibernian in November , Greenhalgh was frozen out under successor John Hughes and moved back down south, carving out a career at semi-pro level.
A standard he still excels in now. He has just moved from Dartford — where he coaches at the club's academy — to Tonbridge Angels, in the National League South. He wants to play until the age of 40 but he admits his future lies in coaching and he will take his UEFA B Badge next year.
For the whirlwind decade Greenhalgh has experienced, Football's Next Star on the other hand was a one-series wonder. A second season, supposedly involving Manchester City, did not materialise. I guess what they struggle with is keeping the reality the reality.
It's frustrating because being picked up is so difficult. Every Saturday, at every level, there is someone shouting at someone, finishing their career. As for the man himself, the future looks set to be immersed in the game he loves and has never left.
He's now at Huddersfield and he is someone who keeps going up and you don't see that in management careers — there's always a drop. The semi-pro footballer and coach talks to Sportsmail at Corinthian FC about his career. Non-stop, and always positive. He got the most out of me in just 12 weeks. It is at this point in the interview when a club official sprints over to ask: 'Ben, have you done the teamsheet? Bang on cue.
He may not be turning heads in the Mediterranean heat, but it turns out Ben Greenhalgh is right. No matter where or when, in sun or in rain, football is football. BG: It is probably something I am a bit renowned for in non-league.
I love a free kick and any set piece when I get the chance. I try to come alive from there and that was a big one, I Fancied it and I scored a similar one in training Thursday night so I had that confidence on the ball and I trusted myself there.
TP: Coming o ff a few wins and winning again tonight is this something that shows your consistency as a team is improving? BG: If you look at it, we have brought in a few players that made a big difference and Jay has said that when he's looking on the bench he sees all good players to use which creates that competition for us and that's a big thing to make us up our performances. I think if you look at it, we are a new team and it is probably supposing a little bit to be doing as well as we are in the new season, and sometimes it can take a full season to get going.
We are not there yet, we aren't the end product but we are definitely on a good roll.
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