Dream comeback for Danns
IT WAS August when Neil Danns stood outside Gigg Lane, umbrella in hand, and braved not only the beating rain but whatever questions distraught Bury supporters had for their club’s captain about its future.
The answers emerged to be the ones they all had feared, with the Shakers expelled from the Football League days later. Danns, like everyone else from the players to the kit man, knew he would have to find another job.
Five months later and By James Sharpe
Danns will line up today for Tranmere in the FA Cup fourth round against Manchester United. Not even he expected that.
‘To be honest, I didn’t think it would ever happen,’ he said.
‘Playing the game for so long, though, you learn that you just never know.
‘Things change for better or worse and, thankfully for me, it has changed in a good way.’
Danns knows he has been one of the lucky ones. He’s 37 now, more than 12 years since he last appeared in the Premier League for Birmingham in a career that has taken him to Crystal Palace, Leicester City and Bolton.
He was on his way to international duty with Guyana when he got a call from Tranmere to ask if he would like to meet with manager Micky Mellon.
‘Straight away I was excited,’ says Danns. ‘As a Merseyside lad, I’d always grown up keeping an eye out for Tranmere, one of the local clubs. I always had a feeling I’d end up there one day.’
Danns has made 19 appearances for Rovers this season, the latest as they knocked out Premier League Watford in a replay at Prenton Park. It was rescheduled due to a waterlogged pitch, after Rovers came from 3-0 down to snatch a draw in the first meeting.
United come to town today and opportunity is in the air. ‘Everyone is buzzing,’ says Danns. ‘You can feel the excitement.
‘It is such a massive game and we’re really looking forward to it.’