It's not quite Old Trafford... but it's just as special

Maya Le Tissier retraces the first steps of her career on Guernsey before leading out United at Wembley on Sunday

- Tom Garry

Black and white jerseys hang from a washing line tied to a shipping container and, inside the adjacent clubhouse, a group of lads are sipping cold beers on a bank holiday Monday afternoon. This is St Martin's AC, a quintessential community club hidden down the narrowest of side roads on the island of Guernsey. Hanging proudly in a frame above the club's bar is a No 4 shirt bearing the name: "Le Tiss".

As the Manchester United captain enters her old clubhouse to greet former teammates, they immediately exchange banter. Maya Le Tissier is back home among those who saw her grow up from a toddler kicking a ball around to a 23-year-old who will, on Sunday, lead her team out at Wembley.

"I owe everything to the island and my support network," Le Tissier says, looking out across the St Martin's pitch where she used to play in a hugely talented midfield alongside the Bournemouth men's player Alex Scott. "It's not quite Old Trafford, but coming here is just as special."

The match that changed her life was not actually played on the island; it came at Southampton's training centre in Marchwood. It was a game she was not originally meant to play. A 10-year-old Le Tissier had accompanied her dad to watch his boys' academy side face Southampton.

"She came on the trip with her boots in her bag, carrying the drinks for the lads. We had about four injuries so we were down a player and Maya said: 'Can I go on and play?' and we said: 'Yes, of course,'" recalls Rob Jones, a family friend and former coach of Le Tissier. "At the end of the game, the Southampton coaches said: 'Who is that girl? She's amazing.' From that moment she sort of had an epiphany, realising how good she was."