Luke Chadwick once was the envy of many when playing for Manchester United, but the 34-year-old is now living out his childhood dream playing for hometown club Cambridge.
Chadwick's past and present collide on Friday night when Manchester United, with whom he won a Premier League winners' medal in 2001, visit Cambridge's R Costings Abbey Stadium in the FA Cup fourth round.
"It's the first time I've been involved in a game against them, really looking forward to it," Chadwick told Press Association Sport.
Chadwick made 39 appearances for Manchester United, 21 as a substitute, scoring two goals, after coming through the youth team ranks to play under Sir Alex Ferguson.
"It was a great time," Chadwick added.
"I went there when I was about 15, stayed there for a good six, seven years and really, really enjoyed it.
"(Ferguson) was an incredible manager, an incredible man. It's great that I can say I played under probably the best manager in the history of football."
Chadwick made his debut in a League Cup clash at Villa Park in October 1999 and left in 2004.
Spells at West Ham, Stoke, Norwich and MK Dons followed before last March he signed for Cambridge.
"To come here was a dream of mine since I was a kid," Chadwick said.
"It was great to finally come here, pull on that amber shirt and play for the club I supported as a child. I love this club. It means everything to me."
Chadwick helped Cambridge win the FA Trophy and end a nine-year absence from the Football League with promotion to League Two.
Both successes were achieved at Wembley, so Chadwick knows Richard Money's side will not be fazed by the occasion.
"It's a great club here at Cambridge and we deserve this draw against a massive club," he said.
"We've got some fantastic players here at Cambridge. I'm sure they can't wait to get on the pitch.
"We'll have the whole world watching on Friday night and they'll be able to show them how good they are."
Chadwick was at stadium:mk when MK Dons beat Louis van Gaal's side 4-0 in the Capital One Cup in August.
Manchester United have improved since and it is difficult to see a repeat on Friday.
Chadwick said: "Milton Keynes were fantastic that night and thoroughly deserved their win.
"We're playing against a world-class team. All we can do is go out there, play to the best of our abilities, work as hard as we can and see where that takes us."
Source: PA
