Luca Connell is looking forward to returning to Bolton Wanderers as a senior player on Saturday, with his old club in a far better state to the one he experienced first hand.
Before being sold to Celtic in the summer of 2019, Connell had been thrust on to centre-stage at Bolton, with several first team players having left the club due to financial turmoil. Wanderers entered administration and it was a worrying, messy time for the football club, with Connell only 17-years-old at the time.
He returned to England in the latest transfer window, with Barnsley snapping him up from the Scottish giants. Connell will be back at Bolton as a Tyke this weekend and looking to take three points off his old club. But, despite those turbulent times, he has appreciation for the platform Bolton gave him in his early career.
READ MORE: Bolton Wanderers defensive record in focus
"I was young when I got exposed to the leagues and men's football," said Connell. "But I think that helped, because the way the club was in at the time, it wasn't easy. I have been to Celtic and Barnsley and they have been easier places to be at, but Bolton helped me as it showed me what it can be like if it is not going well.
"From the outside, it looks quite easy going in training and playing games. But the lads weren't getting paid and they had families to look after and bills to pay like everyone else. It was a tough time for them. Although I was just enjoying it every day, going in and training with the first team and playing games. I was only a 17-year-old boy and did not have many responsibilities really and was enjoying playing football. I was having the time of my life.
"It's obviously one of the jobs where you are usually fortunate to have a good wage. But you still have mortgages to pay and that was tough and not nice to see as a young lad. I was there for ten or 11 years from seven to 18. It is all I knew. Through the week and the weekend, my whole life was going to Bolton.
"It will be good for my mum, dad and grandad and all my family to go and watch the game as I spent so much time there. I basically grew up there and was there five times a week. It will be good to see a few familiar faces, but you have got to go there and do your job. It has changed a lot and I still know one or two faces in the team and one of the lads who I was a scholar with. It didn't go too well for him and he got injured and couldn't carry on. The club gave him a kit man's job, so it will be good to see him."
Don't miss a thing from the club you love! For all the latest updates on Wanderers , sign up to our free newsletter packed with all the latest news here.
