‘I made my Man Utd debut under Alex Ferguson – now I’m 32 and work as a postman’

Marnick Vermijl made his Manchester United debut under legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson but now finds himself working as a postman.

Vermijl’s debut came in a Carabao Cup showdown against Newcastle United in 2012 as he helped the Red Devils win the third-round clash 2-1.

But he would only go on to play one more game for the club – which came in the same competition – as United lost 4-0 to MK Dons under Louis van Gaal in 2014.

Vermijl, who had joined United’s academy in 2010 from Belgian side Standard Liege, ended his five-year stint at the club in 2015 when he joined Sheffield Wednesday.

Less than 10 years later at the age of 32, Vermijl is working as a postman as he explained his interesting career switch to Voetbalprimeur.

‘I was fed up with professional football,’Vermijl said. ‘You are too dependent on the trainer you have. Finding pleasure was also a big factor for me.

‘As a postman I have to get up at four o’clock, but now I am home around noon and can pick up the children from school every day. That is a luxury.’

Vermijl played 11 games for Sheffield Wednesday in the 2014-15 Championship season – the second tier of English football – but it wasn’t long until he was on the move again.

After a loan spell at Preston North End, he joined the club permanently in 2016, staying at Deepdale for three years until he was released in 2019.

Vermijl’s last professional club was Dutch second-tier side MVV Maastricht.

After that, he joined semi-pro side Thes in the third-tier of Belgian football, which allowed him to begin retraining as a postman.

The 32-year-old played as a right-back and earned seven caps for Belgium U21s during his professional football career.

Vermijl also featured for Belgium U17s, Belgium U18s and Belgium U19s respectively.