I started crying when Liverpool signed me - and I'm a Manchester lad

Standing alone and visibly dejected in the torrential Merseyside rain, spectators seated in Anfield's famous Kop grandstand trudged toward the exits as Nathan Eccleston's fourteen years' worth of dedication began to unravel.

"I thought my world was over because no matter your age, you have to take accountability as a professional footballer," he tells the ECHO in an exclusive interview.

The then 19-year-old forward had been assigned the simple task of converting a penalty from 12 yards. For Eccleston, this had been his livelihood for three-quarters of his life, in a journey that had taken him from a council estate in north Manchester to rubbing shoulders with legendary figures Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.

It was September 2010 and Roy Hodgson had not long been in the managerial hot-seat at Liverpool, yet unrest was starting to build among supporters. Just weeks into the new season fans were already longing for the campaign to end, as a trophy-starved Reds side played host to Northampton Town in the League Cup third round. It's a fixture now used as a precursor as to just how low the standards of the club would sink during Hodgson's dismal six-month stint.

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For the Cobblers, it was arguably the greatest night in their history, with the League Two outfit knocking out a club that had defied the odds to conquer European football some five years earlier. David N'Gog's late header had temporarily saved Liverpool's blushes as he pushed the game into extra-time, with two goals apiece the by-product of the 120-minute affair.

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