Ex Files: Stephen Bywater

He began his career as a footballer with Dale's school of excellence, that was run by his father Dave, and it soon became clear to everyone that we had a major find on our hands. So much so, that he became Dale's first international when he turned out for England schoolboys on regular occasions.

By the time he became 16, the big clubs had taken notice of him, and there was plenty of talk of a big money move to Premiership side Blackburn Rovers, despite the fact that he had still to play for the first team at Spotland.

It was during this time that he made his full debut for Dale, when he appeared in an AWS 6-1 defeat away to Carlisle. Saying that, he could not be faulted with any of the goals on the night.

It wasn't long before, there were offers on the table, and Dale accepted an offer from West Ham for the teenage keeper. The fee consisted of a £300,000 down payment, with the rest dependent on various clauses up to a maximum of £2.3 million.

Of course to reach that full figure, he'd have had to have scored the winning goal in the World Cup final for the Democratic Republic of West Ham or something along those lines. We did make more money as he made an increasing number of appearances for the Hammers but it wasn't enough to retire to the Bahamas on.

He spent four years at Upton Park, making around sixty appearances during this time, plus a handful of loan spells at all corners of the country.

He made a reappearance in the Premiership with Derby County in 2007-8 but having conceded 43 goals in 19 appearances and a less than savoury appearance on Sky's Soccer Sunday, he lost his place in the side and spent the remainder of the season on loan at Ipswich Town.