A promising footballer from Bowdon who became the subject of a tug of war between Manchester United and Southampton is celebrating after securing two As, three Bs and two Cs in his GCSE results.
Max Dunne praised Jenny Hatton, his form teacher at St Bede’s College in Manchester, for steering him through his exams during a time of considerable uncertainty with his footballing career.
He explained: “I’d been told that I was going to be released by Manchester United and I went down to Southampton to train with the under-18s and under-21s. I was flown back to Manchester and told United that I had been offered a contract by Southampton.
“I was playing my last game for United and by chance Nicky Butt, who had just been appointed United’s academy director, was watching. He phoned me up and said United would take me back. There was so much going on. This was the end of January, I’d just turned 16. There were the GCSE mocks next month. I was thinking of how I would go about living in Southampton in digs on my own and now Nicky Butt was on the phone.
“Southampton then came back with the offer of a full professional contract and now I had a big decision to make about whether I stay at home or go south for a better contract. There were about 10 Premier League clubs who were interested and each lunchtime I would have to go out of form to make a call to find out what was happening. Eventually, I decided to stay at home and play for United and these results just make it better.”
Max, who’ll be turning out at centre-half for United’s under-18 side against Everton on Saturday, said he couldn’t have done it without the support he received from Mrs Hatton.
“When I was on my own in a hotel in Southampton waiting to speak to the club she was emailing me work,” he said. “I’d meet her before school and during the lunch hour to catch up because I was away so often with football.”
Dr Dando, Director of Studies at the school, said: “It is crucial that these talented pupils get good results because they affect their future. We know what work they miss and we plan a successful programme to fit each pupil. Clearly this approach is paying dividends.”
