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<\/p>\nFrom dreams of lining out at Old Trafford to lower-league exploits, Lee Martin is targeting one more moment of glory against football's elite. <\/p>\n
And he's now chasing that vision at non-league Ramsgate, having joined the Isthmian League South East side earlier in 2023 after leaving Dover Athletic. Twenty years on from joining Manchester United, the journeyman has a score to settle with the upper echelons of the sport.<\/p>\n
Luckily for him, he'll get his chance when this season's FA Cup gets underway in earnest this week. The eighth-tier Rams play host to National League outfit Woking on Saturday (November 4) and will look to build on some promising home form with a miniature giant-slaying.<\/p>\n
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It's a long way from the \u00a31million move that brought Martin to Manchester from Wimbledon in the summer of 2003. It's understood the Red Devils beat the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham to the then-16-year-old's signature, with \u00a3200,000 paid up front, and the rest in instalments.<\/p>\n
But Martin went on to make only three senior appearances for the Red Devils and eventually joined Ipswich Town in 2009 following a string of loan spells with the likes of Sheffield United, Stoke City, Plymouth, Rangers and Nottingham Forest. It's testament to the player that United still made a profit on his sale despite rarely featuring for the top-flight titans, joining the Tractor Boys for \u00a31.5m.<\/p>\n
Who's the one Man United flop you wish had reached their potential the most? Let us know in the comments section below.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
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Martin has since said maybe it was an error to look for first team football and take so many loan moves, commenting: "Maybe if I'd stuck at it at United things would have been different. Just look at Darron Gibson who stayed on and got minutes a couple of years later due to injuries. I think Tom Cleverley was the same, and their careers have turned out a bit different."<\/p>\n
The 36-year-old has earned his stripes in the Football League and is now embracing greater responsibilities at Ramsgate, where he's taken a hand in coaching the club's youth. Ben Smith's side have already made it through four rounds of qualifying to set up their clash with fifth-tier Woking, hoping to upset a side that sits 60 or so places below them in the English football system.<\/p>\n
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\u00a339.99 (PS5), \u00a340.49 (PC)<\/p>\n
The Rams have already beaten the odds on multiple occasions this campaign after seeing Chatham Town, Cray Wanderers and Totton out of FA Cup contention. But each of those teams reside just one division above at present, and ousting the Cardinals is likely to be a much bigger ask.<\/p>\n
Martin will hope to play some hand in any giant-slaying as he looks to add one more major feat to his credit before his playing days are done. The winger was an unused sub when United beat Chelsea on penalties to lift the FA Community Shield in 2007, and success with Ramsgate in his twilight could prove more meaningful.<\/p>\n
A capacity crowd of 2,500 at Southwood Stadium in Kent may not compare with the bright lights of Old Trafford on paper. But in the embers of a career spanning more than two decades, Martin may yet have his chance to shine on a stage as important as any other he's had a hand in.<\/p>\n