Former Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Amos has admitted he stayed at his boyhood club for too long. The 36-year-old joined United in 2001 and endured various loan spells, including one with Hull City, before eventually leaving Old Trafford in 2015.
United begin the new Premier League season away at Hull City on Saturday afternoon and one star with affiliations to both sides is shot-stopper Amos. He started his career with Crewe before being released at the age of 10, but Carrington soon came calling.
Loan spells and a first-team debut
Amos joined United in 2001 after being invited for trials and became a fixture in their youth squads. He embarked on a senior pre-season tour to South Africa in the summer of 2008 and made his first-team debut soon after in a League Cup clash with Middlesbrough. However, in the years that followed, Amos would be shipped out on loan almost every campaign.
Peterborough was his first switch, followed by Norwegian side Molde, Oldham Athletic, the aforementioned Hull, Carlisle United and Bolton Wanderers. Amos admits in hindsight that he stuck around at United for longer than he should have, having grown up a boyhood fan desperate for an opportunity, before joining Bolton permanently 11 years ago.
Waiting for a sliver of an opportunity
"By the point I left, I was ready for it," Amos exclusively told the Manchester Evening News in 2024 when asked about his United exit. "I had had a couple of years hanging around for a sliver of an opportunity.
"I needed to crack on and had already waited too long. I was playing catch-up a bit. With hindsight, it would be a case of, 'I am not playing many games here, so let's go,' but I wanted to hang around for an opportunity that could catapult your career. A run of five good games for Man United does a lot for someone."
"In retrospect, I hung around too long after Sir Alex Ferguson left, but as a United fan, you would be kicking yourself if something happened. When I got my debut, it was because of a couple of injuries and you have to be sat in the right place at the right time to get those opportunities."
Seven appearances and two League Cup titles
Amos made seven senior appearances for his beloved United, primarily in domestic cup competitions. He won two League Cup titles there as well as a pair of Under-21 Premier League crowns, having starred 55 times at that youth level.
"I would play in the odd cup game," he added. "They were worth sacrificing playing week in week out, especially for me as a United fan. Those opportunities were worth hanging around for. I was training with great players and learning every day.
"As a whole, training was firm before fair. But it was always about setting the standards. Sometimes it felt a bit extreme, but it worked for so many years. Every training session was like a match. It was that intense. It sounds not a big deal, but when you are in it, it was as big and as important as the games."
"It was daunting, intimidating. At 17 or 18, there was an air at United where if you are good enough, you are old enough, so if you are training with the first team, you are expected to be at that level."
"There is no soft approach because you are a young lad. I was a lifelong United fan and bang, I was in it. And if you drop below a standard, you would get spoken to as anyone else would. You weren't picked on for being young. It was the same treatment for everyone. It was sink or swim."
A solid career in the EFL
Alas, although Amos swam, he couldn't keep from drowning beneath Edwin van der Sar or David de Gea, the immovable first-choice shot-stoppers during his United tenure. He put an end to his childhood dream for Bolton, but the decision didn't turn out to be a terrible one.
In the 2015/16 season, Amos was thrust into a gruelling Championship campaign but performed admirably for the relegated Bolton. A lacklustre loan spell with Cardiff City followed, but a temporary stint with Charlton Athletic for the 2017/18 season reinvigorated his career and then some.
He kept 13 clean sheets across 46 league matches for the Addicks and Millwall took him on loan the following season. Amos featured sparingly before he rejoined Charlton permanently. He'd spend two decent campaigns with them before signing for Wigan on a free transfer aged 31.
There, he enjoyed the height of his post-United career, being crowned a League One champion in the 2021/22 season. Amos left the Latics two years ago for Port Vale and this summer secured a solid move to Championship hopefuls Burnley. His choice to wave goodbye to his boyhood United has seen him become one of the most reliable EFL shot-stoppers around.
