At 27 years old, many would’ve predicted that Jack Dunn and Jordan Lussey would be playing first team football together.
What they might no have guessed though, is that it would come with Nation League North side Curzon Ashton and not with their former side Liverpool.
The duo looked set for stardom at Anfield, set to become the next graduates of the star-studded Liverpool academy.
Dunn signed for Liverpool at just eight years old, with the Reds beating the likes of Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers for his signature.
“Coming up to my eighth birthday it was decision time, who did I want to commit to. Everyone was offering my dad various things for me to sign for them, but I had in my head I only wanted to play for Liverpool,” said Dunn
“Liverpool is one of those cities that’s mad for its football most of family are Reds, growing up that then got put on me and for as long as I can remember Liverpool has been my team.”
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Dunn played at Liverpool at all levels, quickly rising through the youth ranks at Anfield.
“I always used to play up even if it was just an age group or two but working with the coaches on the strategy and sense of position really helped.
“I think it could’ve been because they trusted me, to put a younger lad in an age group where physically I was probably behind but they trusted me technically and positionally to fit in with that age group.”
The attacker did eventually make a first team appearance for the Reds, playing in a friendly match against Shamrock Rovers.
Coming off the bench to replace Fabio Borini with 11 minutes remaining, Dunn would take just three minutes to find the back of the net to round off a 4-0 victory in 2015.
“Even though it was just an end of season friendly it was my first appearance for the Liverpool first team it was a dream,” he said.
“I think I got about 15 minutes, but I’d have loved to played more to show what I can do. The 15 minutes I got I managed to give a snippet and I managed to get a goal which was incredible.
“The stadium was full so hearing them celebrate was amazing and I was on the pitch with some of the lads I was in the academy with so it was just a nice experience to share with them because a whole team played a part in it.”
Despite looking promising at Anfield, Dunn eventually left Liverpool in 2017, signing for Tranmere Rovers, a team who he had just been at on loan.
Due to injuries and competition at the club, Dunn got released by Tranmere just a year after signing for them, signing for non-league side Warrington, a part time outfit.
Being stuck playing part time meant that Dunn had to pick up a “day job,” eventually becoming a personal trainer.
He explained: “I was in the gym a lot of the time and I saw the people trying to better themselves, so I though why not try and help them. It’s something I thought I’d be naturally good at and after that I joined Pure gym as a personal trainer.”
As COVID hit, life changed in a big way for Dunn as Warrington were forced to stop playing after their league was not deemed to be “elite”.
At this point, Dunn took to his twitter account to upload a video of him playing at Warrington in an attempt to find a new club.
“I just thought to myself I’ve got social media and quite a lot of followers, let’s see the power of it because you hear all these crazy stories of social media,” he explained.
“I put out a tweet and was blown away, had loads of friends who play in league football retweeting it, messaging me asking how it’s going and asking if they can help.
“I ultimately got a message from a guy called Paul Storer, he manages an intermediary agency and he asked how he could help me. We had a good conversation about where I was at and where I wanted to get to then we both were happy to go ahead with what he was proposing.”
This would prove to be a blessing for Dunn who had been a free agent during his time playing at Warrington.
“In the end he managed to get me training for two weeks up in Halifax which I was buzzing about because I was back on the pitch playing football," said Dunn.
Getting in touch with Storer is the reason Dunn has ended up at his current club, Curzon Ashton, who he joined at the start of the season.
He added: “With the new season around the corner he managed to get me in touch with Curzon Ashton which is the club I ended up signing for.”
Also at Curzon Ashton is Dunn’s former Liverpool academy team-mate Jordan Lussey who Dunn played a hand in getting a deal with Curzon.
And Dunn is relishing the link-up with his old friend, saying: “When I signed for Curzon, the manager wanted to get Jordan Lussey in and asked if I could get in touch with him.
“I said yeah for sure because he’d be great to have, linking up in that midfield. The quality he has would make me a better player because he’s on the same wavelength of trying to get the ball down. That’s where players who are technically good will thrive at a lower level with the ball on the floor.”
Dunn and Lussey have helped Curzon to tenth place so far this campaign, although they are just three points behind seventh place with two games in hand.
The pair will be hoping they can link up and fire Curzon up the table as they both look to push on with their dream of playing back in the EFL.
