Darren Huckerby pulled off one of the surprise transfer moves of the 1995 season signing for Newcastle United from Division Three basement side Lincoln City.
Kevin Keegan's entertainers would part with £400,000 for the young teenage sensation who was attracting suitors from across the nation.
Speaking to Undr the Cosh podcast, Huckerby has revealed how he went from staying in a "condemned" club house with the Imps to staying overnight in Kevin Keegan's house.
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Manchester United were also keen on a move for the pacey forward, but Keegan's powers of persuasion saw the Magpies beat their rivals to his signature.
"We were on the way up to Macclesfield and the manager pulled me and said 'You're not playing today you're going to be going with [Kevin] Keegan," said Huckerby.
"I went to stay at Keegan's house and signed for Newcastle the next day. I went from not going to the game to signing for Newcastle.
"I had to get my dad to bring me a suit because I might end up signing. I nearly didn't.
"I was 18 or 19 and staying in Keegan's house, it was strange. I was a bit petrified and just stayed in the room.
"I had a mobile phone by then and rang up my mates who'd just played a game. I was like 'Yeah I'm in Keegan's house.'
"We were bottom of the Third Division at the time, Lincoln were, and Newcastle were top of the Premier League.
"It was surreal. I went from a condemned house to Kevin Keegan's gaff. It was awkward but I wasn't going to say no."
The move to the Magpies wasn't plain sailing with Huckerby unhappy with the amount Newcastle were willing to offer him.
However, the lure of playing with the likes of Peter Beardsley and David Ginola, as well as some words of persuasion from his dad, saw Huckerby sign on the dotted line.
He said: "The fee had been agreed and it was a record fee for Lincoln. I met my dad, my agent - offered the money - said no I'm no signing for that.
"My dad pulled me and said 'You've got to. You'd be mental not to. It's not about the money now.'
"There was people earning three times more at Lincoln. But now, you think they're coming to the end of their career, 32, 33, 34 and on a grand a week and for them it's probably the best money they're going to have ever earned.
"At the time - £400 - I was on £120 at Lincoln. They weren't going to budge which is fair play because they said I had to earn it. I was worse off going to Newcastle because I had to rent and sort a car out.
"I was in the higher tax bracket and earning less money but it didn't matter. My dad was right. He said 'You can't turn that down you're going to play with Peter Beardsley, [David] Ginola, Les Ferdinand. You're going to a massive club.'
"I was just thinking this does not happen. Peter Beardsley was my hero to start off with. [Gary] Lineker and Beardsley were the people I watched growing up."
Huckerby wasn't able to force his way into the star-studded Magpies line-up that went on to challenge for the Premier League title, but the former Lincoln City forward felt he had what it took to play at the top.
He said: "I remember one of the first training sessions after it got sorted, it was 3 vs 3 and I was on Beardsley's team. It was one of those where everything I touched went in.
"Everything I tried went in and Beardsley said 'By the way we've got a player here.'
"For me to hear that, I was straight on the phone to my dad. 'By the way Beardsley said this,'
"To be fair to him, even though I only played a couple of times I got offered to play in Peter Beardsley's testimonial, which for me, is a massive, massive thing. "
"It wasn't intimidating but you knew the levels had gone up, if that makes sense. On a Friday they'd do this game where they're juggling between four teams," Huckerby added.
"There was some real good players in there and if you've come from the Third Division where your touch wasn't everyone's main forte, it was difficult but I saw the levels that I'd need to get to.
"Everyone wants to be a professional footballer but there's levels between League Two and the Premier League. I felt comfortable but I knew I had a lot of work to do.
"What it was, I was rapid. I was quicker than everyone there and that was my thing, but I needed more."
Huckerby was highly thought of during his time on Tyneside and was in line to make his debut for the Magpies in a cup game against Liverpool at Anfield after being named amongst the substitutes, but there was one issue.
"I trained with the first team every day," he said. "I was meant to be on the bench against Liverpool in the cup, we'd done the team talk - on the bench away at Anfield - I think to myself, I've already played in this cup for Lincoln.
"What do I do? Do I say anything? I was in the changing room before the game and he'd named the team. I was thinking have they changed the rules now? I could make my debut.
"Do I say anything, do I not say anything? Do I go and pull the manager now after he's done the team talk. What do I do here?
"I had to do it because if they got pulled out of the cup. I said 'Gaffer I don't know if the rules have changed, you might know different to me here, but I've already played in this competition this season.
"It would have been in the first round proper before the other clubs came in. It's a bit sloppy but the manager probably didn't even think about it.
"Lincoln's game was the first one of the season because it happens in August. Someone would've spotted it."
Huckerby went on to play against Chelsea and Bolton in the FA Cup for Newcastle and felt he gave a good account of himself.
He said: "I went on to play in the FA Cup game against Chelsea and Bolton.
"I came on after half-time and I ripped [Michael] Duberry to bits. I ripped him to bits and he didn't know what to do. He saw this kid come on with long hair and knock it 20-yards past him. He can run as well!
"He said to me years later 'I saw this kid with long hair come on and nobody has beaten me for pace like that.'
"I thought at least they can see what I can kind of do a little bit. It sounds daft because they went and bought [Tino] Asprilla and it's not going to happen is it?
"I was further down the pecking order and they were trying to win the league. The pressure was immense and you could feel it."
Keegan's decision to scrap reserve team football ultimately signalled the end of Huckerby's time at Newcastle, with game time limited for the youngster.
"That's one of the main reasons why I wanted to go out on loan," Huckerby said. "He scrapped it and we ended up playing some random, local non-league teams and it was a joke.
"I don't think any of the older lads wanted to play to be honest with you. We had a few young lads but I think the ones who weren't playing probably didn't want to be playing reserve football.
"It's not the easiest but we've all done it when we haven't been playing at certain levels in certain teams, you don't want to play reserve football.
"For me, if I've got a game I'd rather go and play. For my own development, at 19, I was still, in my head, classed as a League Two or Division Three player because I hadn't done enough to prove - so that's why, in the end I just said I had to go out on loan here."
Huckerby would leave Newcastle to join Millwall on loan before joining Coventry City for the fee of £1million despite making a handful of games.
"I was an out and out striker at Newcastle and I didn't particularly like it," he added. "There was so much pressure on scoring goals as a centre forward, that I think it made me do stupid things.
"All anyone cares about as a centre forward is if they've scored or not. You had to score goals to be part of the team they didn't see all the other stuff you did.
"If you beat six players, roll it across and someone misses, you didn't score a goal. It's hard for centre forwards. I preferred it when I played out wide later in my career where I could just go and express myself. and not have that pressure of having not scored.
"You could be told to score once every three games as a pose to once every game."
