Evans: What United Means To Me

Jonny Evans is a lifelong Red who came through the ranks and has played 181 games for the club. Here, he explains the impact United has had on him...

My first recollections of Manchester United would be going way back, probably in my granny's house having these little figures of United players. Even before that, I got a United poster for Christmas when I was five years old. My bedroom was all done out in Manchester United stuff: bed covers, posters... so it goes back to when I was just a kid.

Joining the club actually happened over a number of years. When I was nine years old, a scout had come over to watch me play in Northern Ireland and asked me if I wanted to join the Manchester United centre of excellence. So, for me, that was a massive thing.

I was fortunate in that my dad had been at Chelsea when he was younger. He'd moved to London when he was 16, so he'd gone through that process and knew that I was still a bit away, even though I was only nine and I was getting really excited. He was telling me that there's still so much to go.

Then, when I was maybe 10, I made my first trip to Manchester. I travelled over on every school holiday and it was great at the time. I moved across with my family when I was 15 and I think that was the start of it, when I moved to England. It's been 11 years now, it's been a long experience but it feels like yesterday.

When you first go to the stadium it's like a dream. I'd never actually been across to Old Trafford as a young kid, even though I was a Manchester United fanatic. My mum and dad had never managed to get across to take me to a game, so it wasn't until I got a trial, and the club took me and a few players to see the game, that I actually went to Old Trafford.

It was a great experience and even though I knew I had a long way to go before I could play there myself, that definitely gave me the inspiration to want to play there one day.

When you look back at the players who have represented Manchester United, some great players, that drives you to want to be mentioned in the same bracket. Also, being part of good teams helps. I grew up watching the teams that Sir Alex Ferguson built over the years, so to be a part of that was a great feeling. It's also about winning trophies because it's winning things that goes down in history.

You feel the responsibility of playing for United every time you pull on the shirt. It's kind of strange because you grow up as a fan but, as soon as you become a player, you kind of feel on the other side of it. You are representing the club on the pitch; you're still a fan but it's from a totally different perspective. You've got to try to make the fans happy as well as the manager and do your job for the club. As a footballer, though, the day you retire, I think you go back to being a fan like everyone else.

It's hard to put into words exactly what Manchester United means to me. From a young age, I was fanatical about United and I used to cry when the team lost. That's how much it meant as a kid. Now I feel really privileged to pull on the shirt and go out there and try to make a difference and represent the fans on the pitch.