David Raven had much to live up to after being named man-of-the-match on his Liverpool debut, a victory over Tottenham in a League Cup quarter final.
Having had the unusual distinction of captaining England schoolboys at football while attending a rugby-playing grammar school, a rarefied career at the highest level seemed possible.
That never quite happened but 16 years on, everything might just come full circle. Should Marine manage to get past Havant and Waterlooville in Sunday afternoon's FA Cup second round he would be in the hat for a tie against his former club, who reside three miles down the dock road.