Manchester United quite literally dodged a bullet when they attempted to sign future James Bond actor Sean Connery in 1954. Long before he collected his licence to kill, a 23-year-old Connery was hoping to thrill as a professional footballer. The young Scotsman had a keen interest in football at the time, and had played for Bonnyrigg Rose in his younger days. In his early twenties, he was offered a trial with Scottish second division club, East Fife, and even went on tour with his new club to the South Pacific, where he played in a friendly against a local team then-United manager Matt Busby happened to be scouting. Busby was thought to have been impressed by Connery's physical prowess and offered him a professional contract to play for United for £25-a-week. Connery has since admitted he thought about accepting the offer, but changed his mind because he was 23 - professional footballers generally retire by the age of about 30, and he would have only seven years' worth of football in him. He explained:
"I realised that a top-class footballer could be over the hill by the age of 30, and I was already 23. I decided to become an actor and it turned out to be one of my more intelligent moves."
The decision to become an actor instead paid off. For football reasons, it was a sound decision considering Connery had a short shelf life, while outside of the game, we would never have had one of the best James Bond actors, and the franchise might well be a very different one today. Retired United manager Sir Alex Ferguson once heralded Connery as the best ever Bond actor, so for his sake, and mover-goers everywhere, we're glad this one didn't come to fruition.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
