Former professional footballer Stephen McPhee has seen the best and worst that life has got to offer.
During a 10-year career with Coventry City; St Mirren; Port Vale; Hull City; Blackpool; and聽Portuguese聽side Beira-Mar he played against some of the biggest names in the game, in the biggest stadiums in the world.
But when a knee injury curtailed his career at the age of 29 he turned to alcohol and twice tried to commit suicide.
Thankfully those dark days are behind him and the 42-year-old has just embarked on a new job as head of new business at Manchester-based聽sustainable IT equipment聽supplier聽.
It鈥檚 a far cry from playing in front of 60,000 fans at Celtic Park and against Portuguese giants Benfica but McPhee has no regrets.
鈥淧eople ask me if I鈥檇 change anything,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 reply 鈥榥o鈥� because if I did, I wouldn鈥檛 be where I am now with my beautiful聽fianc茅e, two young sons and a new challenge, in a new industry, in a new job.鈥�
McPhee has been throwing himself into his new career in tech with the same enthusiasm he did as a young footballer.
It鈥檚 the reason he鈥檚 sitting in the front row of an early morning tech event in Rochdale to mark the 25th聽anniversary of聽IT managed聽support company聽MysonPages.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 come from a tech background so I鈥檓 putting myself out there in situations where people are asking me questions,鈥� he admitted. 鈥淚t would be easy to shy away and sit in the corner but if I don鈥檛 know the answer I find out.鈥�
McPhee鈥檚 journey to where he is now is remarkable.
Born in Glasgow he and his older brother Gary travelled the world as because of their Dad鈥檚 job as an engineer.
It was while they were in Holland that聽McPhee鈥檚 football talent was spotted at the age of 14 by Vitesse Arnhem.
Originally signed as a midfielder he showed his prowess in front of goal and signed four years later as a striker for Premier League side Coventry City.
The side were managed by Gordon Strachan and it was聽rumoured that Coventry had been trying to sign the Brazilian star Ronaldino but settled for the young and unproven McPhee instead.
Although he never made his Premier League debut at Coventry he played and trained with the first team, alongside legends like Gary McAllister; Mustapha Hadji, Robbie Keane and Craig Bellamy.
In 2001 he went north of the border to Scotland and played seven games for St Mirren, the highlight game being against Celtic, who clinched the Premier League title in front of more than 60,000 fans at Parkhead.
Describing his playing style, McPhee said: 鈥淚 used to like to get in the heads of defenders. I was good in the air and I was really fast.鈥�
The most prolific period of his career came at Port Vale, where he scored 39 goals in 135 games.
Leeds United tried to sign him but Port Vale turned down their offer of 拢100,000 so McPhee signed for Portuguese聽top tier 聽side Beira-Mar on a Bosman transfer.
鈥淭hey used to train twice a day and it was the closest I鈥檇 come to having a proper job,鈥� he joked.
Mainly operating as winger, he scored six goals in 34 matches but it wasn鈥檛 enough to stop his side being relegated so he signed for Hull City in 2005 for a reported 拢400k.
Ex-footballer Stephen McPhee in 2024
However tragedy struck when he suffered a knee injury in just his fourth game, which overshadowed the remainder of his career.
He moved to Blackpool in 2008 and was earning 拢2,500 a week plus bonuses but again his career was restricted by a persistent knee injury.
McPhee eventually retired aged 29 in 2010, a week after watching his Blackpool team-mates win promotion to the Premier League, which is when his problems really began.
鈥淎s a footballer you鈥檙e built to be mentally strong and my biggest problem was I thought I should have the answers and I was too scared to ask for help,鈥� he admitted.
鈥淚 should have opened up because by not asking for help and talking all I was doing was digging a hole.聽In the end I attempted to take my own life.
鈥淚 was drinking at least every other day. I found it a release. I was out in town as much as possible. You鈥檙e so-called friends are there but that鈥檚 because you鈥檙e buying the drinks.鈥�
He invested most of the insurance pay-off he got after retiring in property and a聽franchise in Minuteman Press in Cheadle, which he ran for 11 years.
Earlier this year he took the plunge and joined Trafford Park-based Ayoo Services, which specialises in offering refurbished IT equipment, including providing 50,000+ laptops.
McPhee said he鈥檚 loving the challenge of working in tech and loving life.
鈥淩ather than thinking new when looking for a new laptop or desktop, why not think remanufactured or refurbished?鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good for the environment.鈥�
McPhee, who is a qualified coach, is slowly rekindling his love of football.
鈥淚鈥檇 seen the bad side of football and it wasn鈥檛 something I was going to push my two boys into it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e just started taking them to a few games but I鈥檓 just happy doing what I鈥檓 doing.鈥�