Richard Eckersley was signed on loan from Burnley on April 15, 2011 to become a starting fullback for Toronto FC. One of the big reasons why he was picked out of the bunch to sign was that the director of player development at the time, Paul Mariner, knew Richard from his time managing Plymouth Argyle, where Eckersley played with for a bit while he was on loan there.
Eckersley has had quite an interesting career. He spent his youth career in the Manchester United youth system, and then later moved in and out of the first team, making two appearances for the Red Devils between 2007 and 2009.