I left Man Utd as reserve player and returned an England international – but I made an awkward blunder on first day back | The Sun

KIERAN RICHARDSON was on top of the world in the summer of 2005.

He had just made his England debut after helping West Brom pull off one of the greatest escapes to avoid Premier League relegation.

Richardson, 38, joined West Brom on loan to get minutes and escape United's reserves.

So when he returned to Carrington as an England international he did not realise he was no longer a reserve and ended up in the wrong dressing room.

He recalled the story, telling Ladbrokes Fanzone: "I left Man United's reserve changing room in the January, and came back a full international. It's mind-boggling.

"The funny thing about it all, is that when I went back for my first day with Man United, I got to Carrington and walked straight back into the reserve changing room!

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"I remember Gary Neville coming in to see me…he said 'Mate, what are you doing in here!?'

"I replied saying dunno… I haven't spoken to the boss yet…"

"I still had that respect for how things were; I didn't know what the manager was thinking, or what was going on.

"'No, no, no. You come out of this changing room, mate. You've got to come into the first-team changing room!', he said.

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"But I felt a bit in limbo, to be honest with you. I felt like I deserved to be in that first-team dressing room, of course.

"But I didn't really know where I was going. Yeah, that first day back at training, that morning really brought me back down to earth after a crazy summer!

"It's funny, because of where I was at in my career at the start of that 2004-05 season, there was no mention of an England call-up bonus, or anything like that, in my contract… no way.

"I only put that sort of thing in when I signed a new deal that summer."

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