When Nicky Welsh set foot on Old Trafford as a seven-year-old in 1974, it was the first step of a five-decade love affair with football, which also led to a playing spell in Kuala Lumpur.
In fact, Welsh, a reserve player with Manchester United, and Carl, the younger brother of former Tottenham Hotspur star Glenn Hoddle, became the first English pros to play in Malaysia in 1985.
Signed by Cheq Point FC for the FAM Cup, their presence created quite a stir as Malaysian football hadn't really opened its door to foreign players then.
Recently, Welsh authored a book, My United Road which also has a full chapter chronicling his adventure in Malaysia.
The book tells the story of a boy who almost made it in football, whose dreams came tantalisingly close to reality at the Theatre of Dreams.
Welsh, 54, described his book as a heartfelt love letter to the Red Devils who inspired him, signed him and spurned him, but never dented was his devotion to Manchester United, both as a player and fan.
"It's a humble book and quite humorous intentionally. Malaysia is one of my favourite chapters, full of funny tales," Welsh said.
"I look back at my short stint in Malaysia as an adventure. I was young, 19 years of age, on the other side of the world and a long way from home.
"I met some really lovely people and made some great friends although my time on the pitch didn't quite turn out how I imagined. There were some talented players in the Cheq Point team at that time, including Lim Teong Kim, who went on to have a spell in Germany. And I remember striker K. Kannan being an excellent goal scorer."
As like globalisation, football was rolling, going places. While Welsh went east from the west, Teong Kim headed in the opposite direction — to Germany to join Hertha Berlin two years after Welsh's coming to Kuala Lumpur.
But it was a tragic ending for Carl who also played for Negri Sembilan in the Malaysia Cup. He died of a suspected heart attack at the age of 40 in 2008.
Welsh said his book lifts the curtain on what life is really like for aspiring young players trying to get to the top and the challenges that stand in their way.
Signed by Manchester United from school as an apprentice, Welsh later put his signature down as a professional with his boyhood love. But he found it hard to break into the first team at United, regarded by many fans as the greatest club in the world.
Midfielder Welsh joined West Brom before ending up in Malaysia, where he found it strange, "being welcomed like a megastar".
He said his father, Barry, and United legend Gordon McQueen had encouraged him to journey to Kuala Lumpur.
Welsh feels that My United Road will mean something to anyone who understands what it is like to love your club, who dreams of wearing its shirt, and whose heart has soared and sunk in the stands.
"No matter what road my life ever took, and there have been many, it always led back to my local team, Manchester United." he said.
Welsh said Sir Alex Ferguson was the first to read the book (a lot of it is about being a fan) and the former United boss said it is unique and he really enjoyed it.
Welsh, who runs an international furniture company called ISOMI, said the book is dedicated to his father and other footballers affected by Alzheimer's disease.
"Many of the football people in the book, including my father, an ex-professional player, and Nobby Stiles, have been affected by Alzheimer's. We need more research into it, and things like heading the ball has an impact on this."
The deaths of footballers from dementia, believed to be caused by heading the ball, is an emotive issue in England. The country's 1966 World Cup hero, Bobby Charlton, is suffering from dementia. His World Cup-winning teammates, Stiles, Jack Charlton, Martin Peters and Ray Wilson were suffering from the brain disease when they died.
A study in Scotland in 2019 showed that professional footballers were three-and-a-half times more likely to die from neurodegenerative disease than the general population.