The early 2000's are a not so distant memory for the majority of football fans with the social media trend 'Barclaysmen' allowing supporters to reminisce about better times, where there was no fear of VAR robbing them of a moment of euphoria. The Premier League still had all it's glitz and glamour with youngsters across the globe hoping one day, they'd be able to make it at a top flight club.

The older you get, the less likely it is. Which is what makes Carl Magnay's story so special. The Gateshead-born defender won a professional contract with Chelsea after impressing on Sky's Football Icon 2 show. Thousands of unsigned footballers between the ages of 16 and 18 would compete to win a six-month contract at Stamford Bridge.

For Magnay, he'd go from a normal teenager in sixth form at St Robert of Newminster School in Washington, playing for Birtley Town U17s, to training alongside the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Arjen Robben and Didier Drogba at Jose Mourinho's Blues. But it could have been very different had he walked away from those original auditions in North Shields.

"My dad was secretary at Birtley Town at the time and I was in the age bracket that Sky were looking for," Magnay told Chronicle Live. "Sky basically rang around all the grassroots clubs' secretaries saying, 'look if you've got any kids that are unsigned to pro clubs we're doing this thing and there's four venues around the UK, one of those venues is in Newcastle, would they be interested in going along?'

"At the time I was on trial with Middlesbrough so I wasn't really bothered. I said to my dad 'I'm not bothered' but he said I may as well have a look.

"I got down there and the queue was a mile long. We were on our way home because I said I'm not waiting in that and I'm on trial at Boro, it's wasting my time and I'm not going to win this there's thousands here. One of my good mates Mark Anderson was in the queue, he whistled me over. I hopped the queue and that was it.

"It wasn't really a sliding doors moment but if he hadn't have been there, what ended up being the best opportunity of my career, got me involved in the game at that level, it's incredible really that I was turning my back on it. He whistled me over and jumped the queue with him and that was it. Those moments when you look back at life, it's crazy."

The then 18-year-old had been released by Leeds United at a younger age and already knew of the heartbreak of not making the grade. This opportunity would be one final roll of the dice, but it would be broadcast in front of the cameras to millions.

"I was painfully shy in terms of all the cameras around and stuff," he said. "I was going through puberty, a proper teen awkward phase.

"I knew once you went round the trials they had five or six different stations. One tested your speed and agility, the other was your technical ball work, passing drill all that sort of stuff. It tested your full range of ability I suppose.

"Then you had a score at the end and you had to stand in front of a TV and it gave you a tick or cross or a question mark. I noticed when it was my turn to stand in front of this TV all the cameras started coming round, getting in position and I thought 'oh no.'

"The tick came up and I was buzzing but that meant all the media attention after that and I really wasn't comfortable with that at the time. That was a lot to deal with and then when you get through to the next stage and have more of an involvement with the cameras, it was something I wasn't really comfortable with I just wanted to get my head down and work as hard as I could and get out of there."

Carl Magnay with Chelsea's John Terry After progressing through the trials, Magnay would move to a mansion in Surrey along with 13 other hopefuls who were put through their paces at Chelsea's Cobham training ground. A player would be eliminated week-to-week with then Blues boss Mourinho and his staff selecting a winner at the end.

"I went into it, there was definitely thousands maybe tens of thousands of lads that went in for it, but never at any stage until sort of the last six or seven players did I ever think I was going to win it," Magnay added. "Obviously I knew I was a good player and I was just there to see where it took me.

"When there's that many people involved I was just doing it for the experience more than anything. It was interesting when you turned up at the trial venue down at North Shields, it was funny.

"You had all the grassroots players from the top clubs like Redheugh FC and Wallsend Boys Clubs, players that you've played against since grassroots level. They were all stood in the queue and nobody really spoke to each other, there was a bit of rivalry there but it was strange.

"To come out of it as the winner and look back, there was actually a lot of good players at the time. It was a huge achievement but a funny process. There was a lot of competitive edge to it.

"That experience was unique and it forced you to deal with a number of things that I probably hadn't or wouldn't be exposed to today with the media attention and you're living with lads you're competing with. It definitely made me a more well rounded human being as opposed to a footballer."

"That was a bit awkward," he said. "We got down to the last six and I got called over to train with the first-team. That was bizarre, I was only 16-years-old.

"It was hard to grasp. To be fair, looking back I was quite level headed and did okay in the session, I remember doing one vs ones and I've a photo of me standing Joe Cole up in a one vs one.

"It was a brilliant experience but the awkwardness came because I was the only one that went over to train and when I've come back into the house where we all shared a living space, it was a bit like 'ah he's won it now' or 'he didn't deserve to go over there.'

"I think if you take it for what it was I was obviously one of the stronger players, otherwise they wouldn't have sent me over there but I also knew I was on a television programme and it was good for viewers that I was going over and training with the first-team. It was interesting for the viewers but I never got carried away and took a really humble approach and wanted to stay as level headed as possible."

Carl Magnay This wasn't the Chelsea we've seen in recent seasons - this was Mourinho's juggernauts - the then 18-year-old rubbed shoulders with England internationals Terry, Lampard, Ashley and Joe Cole during that session - a far cry from training with his mates at Birtley Town. He also trained alongside some impressive under-21s during his time at the Blues; including Ryan Bertrand who would go on to win the Champions League and 19 caps for England, as well as ex-Sheffield Wednesday defender Sam Hutchinson.

"It was surreal," Magnay reflects. "You've got no option but to take it in your stride. Like I said, looking back now I didn't know it at the time, I had a strong mentality and I was quite level headed.

"Chelsea's first-team players were really respectful. They were just going about their daily jobs and their routines. I remember sitting in the canteen and I'm sharing an area where we're all eating.

"It took me about an hour to eat my food because I was just looking round the room staring at people. Lampard going up to get food and get a plate of second and I'm looking at his physical stature thinking 'look at the size of his quads' and I was just in awe of everything that was going on around me.

"It was really surreal but I knew I was there and had to prove myself and when you got on the pitch you had to push all that to one side and just focus on the session. I think I did that really well to be fair."

"As it got whittled down I was growing more and more in confidence and I was thinking 'yeah I'm better than what's around me' but I never vocalised it, that was an inner belief. I never said that to the cameras which a couple of the lads did, which was fine, crack on with it.

"My family were down for the final day of filming and so were my friends. I've got an unbelievable group of friends there was about 20 of them who came down and they were well prepared for me to lose, they were going to be there for me if I'd lost so it was unbelievable having that support.

"I was sat in front of Neil Bath [then youth-team coach at Chelsea] with the cameras following me - Bathy who I'm close to now - gave me that life changing news. The words when he said 'you are the Icon, you'll sign for Chelsea and you've won a contract.'

"It was incredible I came out and all my mates were there and we had a great night. It was huge relief more than anything and then it was what an opportunity."

"That was a strange one because from an early age I've always been interested in coaching and see the manager styles," said Magnay. "Mourinho was a really intimidating character.

"He had the respect of the players undoubtedly, when he'd walk into a room you'd sit upright and make sure you checked yourself. He had that presence and that aura about him.

"Others that I worked under, I wasn't really impressed with and they were quite basic in their approach. You think 'hold on these are massive names but they're just doing things really simply' which is maybe an art in itself.

"I was there when Carlo Ancelotti was there - who I really liked - I thought he had more of a personal approach with his players and was very organised with his set-ups, similar to Mourinho. Then there was Andre Villas-Boas who tried to change things quite drastically.

"The likes of Anelka and Alex - he banished them and they had to train on their own. He was trying to make too much of a statement to senior world class players and it didn't go down very well. I was able to see different dynamics, different world class coaches and I knew that when I'd eventually step into coaching I'd revisit those approaches and gauge which is the best one to go with.

"The biggest influence on my career, without a doubt, was Brendan Rodgers. He was my reserve manager for two-and-a-half years and he was incredible. His content with his sessions but also his personable approach, he's someone that I take a lot of into my work now."

Magnay would link up with former Gateshead boss Mike Williamson at MK Dons and then Carlisle, before returning to the International Stadium earlier this month. The former Blues defender has taken his first step into management, just as Terry had tipped him to do all those years ago.

"I did my Level 2 when I was at Chelsea," he said. "So I did my cruciate in a bad knee injury and took the opportunity to do my badges and then Brendan - when I was out injured - allowed me to take training. I was only 19 and he wanted me to take a session and be exposed to it because he felt I would be a good coach later down the line.

"Then people would say things to me around the training ground like 'you've got a good eye for it' or 'you will be a good coach you've got good leadership qualities. I remember John Terry doing an interview with Chelsea TV and they asked him who has potential to be a manager or a coach one day and he said me.

"These are top class people recommending that I go into this line of work and maybe at some point it's something that I'll have to take notice of an pursue. When I was 26 I set up my own coaching academy which was based here [in Gateshead] and I had a great time with that for three years but took the opportunity to take up scouting with Chelsea and I had to knock that on the head."