I played with Phil Foden to win the World Cup but now I’m in an office job

• Curtis Anderson was part of the England Under-17 team that won the World Cup 
• The goalkeeper played in the same team as Phil Foden and Marc Guehi
• He now works as financial advisor and plays in the non-league for Bootle FC

Curtis Anderson was part of the Under-17 England team that won the World Cup in 2017, but the former Manchester City youth team player has struggled to kick on since.

The 22-year-old was part of a team that featured Phil Foden, Marc Guehi, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Morgan Gibbs White.

He now plays semi-professional football for Bootle FC and is also working a 9-5 office job.

Anderson began his youth career at Blackpool before joining Manchester City in 2012. 

He was named the third-choice goalkeeper for Manchester City under Pep Guardiola.

A failed January loan move to Blackburn Rovers proved to be a big turning point in his career. 

Anderson revealed to The Times that the offer to play for Rovers was there and that he was eager to get some first team minutes under his belt. 

‘Me being a kid and thinking I knew everything, I was like, no, I need to go and play,’ Anderson said.

‘Blackburn were clearly there — why not train, stay earning this money and go to Blackburn at the end of the season? Nobody told me to do that.’

Eventually, he would move to US second-tier side Charlotte Independence, but Anderson revealed that his move would stop his ‘momentum.’

‘Going to America stopped my momentum. Coming back to England during Covid killed me.

‘I went from loving football, ages eight to 18, to thinking, ‘This isn’t what I thought it was’.

‘Whether it’s unlucky, unfortunate, wrong decisions here or there, people not helping, whatever you want to call it, it’s not great. I sometimes struggle with how I feel about it.’ 

After just five months with Charlotte, Anderson moved back to England to play for Wycombe Wanderers, where he was then loaned to seventh-tier side Walton Casuals and National League South outfit Eastbourne Borough. 

The Englishman left Wycombe in 2022 without making an appearance. He would then sign for Lancaster City. Anderson would play 21 times for the club before departing in March 2023.

Now, the former England Under-17 star plays Northern Premier League Division One West side Bootle after joining the club on a free transfer.

Anderson, who also works as a financial advisor, revealed that he struggled when watching his former Under-17 team-mates play for Gareth Southgate’s England at the World Cup in Qatar. 

‘I really struggled [during the World Cup] because I was seeing so many of my old team-mates and people I had spent a lot of time with.

‘And then there’s me, sat at home watching on TV, thinking, ‘How has this ended up happening?”