Man Utd star had imaginary girlfriend and faked phone calls to trick Red Devils players

A former Manchester United player was so desperate to fit in that he conjured up an imaginary girlfriend to impress his team-mates. The midfielder came through the academy at Old Trafford, having previously trialled at Cambridge United before a brief spell on the books of Arsenal. He was granted his senior debut in 1999 and went on to make 38 appearances, scoring twice.

He spent time on loan at Royal Antwerp, Reading and Burnley before leaving United on a permanent basis in 2003. The player enjoyed a fruitful career at lower levels, playing for the likes of Stoke City, Norwich City and MK Dons. He eventually returned to Cambridge, his boyhood club, before hanging up his boots after a spell at Soham Town Rangers in 2016.

The player in question is Luke Chadwick, who found it hard to settle in during the early stages of his time at United. In a desperate bid to look cool, he pretended to have a girlfriend and even faked phone calls with her to keep up the illusion.

Chadwick admitted to the lie in 2021, writing on X (formerly Twitter): "When I moved to Manchester at 16 I was embarrassed about not having a girlfriend, so I cut out the most attractive girl from my school year book.

"I kept it in my wallet in case anyone asked. I got so into the lie I was even having fake phone calls with my imaginary girlfriend in digs!"

Chadwick later revealed that he invented the relationship to mask feelings of insecurity which stemmed from abuse targeting his physical appearance.

In his autobiography, Not Just A Pretty Face, he wrote: "I didn't know how to deal with it. I was still so shy and so introverted that I would never allow myself to open up and talk about how I was feeling inside.

"When I look back now, it was my greatest mistake really. If I had that emotional intelligence and understanding of how to be vulnerable and spoke about my issues, but at the same time, I wouldn't change anything.

"The challenges I went through, the stuff that went on, when I look back at how it supported my growth as a human being. It allowed me to understand myself on a deeper level and probably the biggest challenge I had was my self-dialogue.

"It wasn't the actual issue of the abuse and mockery, it was more I'd give myself such a hard time about it and think there was something wrong with me as I was letting it affect me, like it had made me a weak human being.

"Although it was really challenging at the time, it really helped me understand myself better moving forward into adulthood and as an older man."

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