Everyone has their version of a favorite James Bond. From the likes of Sean Connery to the current Daniel Craig, everyone, maybe except George Lazenby, has embodied the essence of Mr 007.
However, if we consider the original Bond, it would have to be a Scottish-born Connery's rendition of James Bond.
The world's persona of Connery's Bond was a cool, calm, stoic, and charming spy. He represents the word suave.
However, many people do not know about his other side. Under the mask of the iconic actor was a football fanatic. He had exceptional football skills, which also caught the attention of Manchester United.
So, what happened then? Let Main Stand walk you through this story.
A martini. Shaken, not stirred
Thomas Sean Connery was born on 25th August 1930 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
As a family of refugees from Ireland who relocated to Scotland, Connery's family was poor. His father, Joseph Connery, worked in factories and was a truck driver; his mother, Euphemia McBain, was a cleaning maid. So it was no surprise when Sean was growing up, he had to work part time as a milkman to help his family.
When he was 16 years old, "Connery", or Big Tom as known by his friends, decided to help his family reduce their expenses by joining the Scottish Navy.
Connery received anti-aircraft military training in Portsmouth, England. It seemed like he was performing well, as he often received compliments from his trainer. However, at 19, he was dismissed after having an abrasion in his small intestine from his genetics.
Afterwards, Connery's life resulted in daily living and earning. He worked as a lifeguard at a pool, an art model for Edinburgh College of Art, and a local amateur footballer.
Connery played football for Bonnyrigg Rose, a local club in Scotland, where he wore number seven and played right wing.
Although he wasn't skillful, Connery scored some incredible goals. His iconic goal was the 3-1 defeat of Broxburn Athletic with a 30 yards goal into the corner. It was a spectacle for locals.
"He was never what you would call a shy guy," said Nat Fisher, a die-hard fan of Bonnyrigg Rose who watched Connery play many times.
"He talked to everyone, just like what you see now. And handsome; all the girls loved him. "He had this brown corduroy jacket; the height of fashion then - for Bonnyrigg anyway - and we all wanted one like it."
Connery's football career was only with small local clubs in Scotland. He was very far from the big clubs in England like Manchester United.
If that is so, how did an offer from United come?
The world is not enough
Connery's life went on with part-time jobs alongside his football career. But, until Connery's reached the age of 23, his life was about to change.
In the 1953/54 pre-season, United, led by Sir Matt Busby, was traveling to Scotland for friendlies.
Even if it's the off-season, a football lover like Sir Matt Busby could not resist going out to watch local football matches, and one game was to watch Bonnyrigg Rose play.
Connery was on the field that day playing the right wing. The usually average Connery was in the form of his life that day and caught the eye of Sir Matt Busby.
After the final whistle, Sir Matt Busby approached young Connery with a contract offer for Old Trafford.
In the contract, he was offered £25 per week (today's inflation would mean £703). It wasn't much, but it would have been massive compared to Connery's salary back then. However, Connery declined the offer.
"I wanted to accept because I loved football," the 007 agent said to Sportskeeda. "But I realized that a top-class footballer could be over the hill by 30, and I was already 23. (So) I decided to become an actor, which was one of my more intelligent moves."
The story ends here, and Connery never crosses paths with Sir Matt Busby again.
The question is, no matter how well Connery played that day, it was unfathomable why Sir Matt Busby would give an offer to a local club footballer in Scotland.
There was no official answer to this, and the secret remains with Sir Matt Busby.
However, the media's speculation concluded that the offer's factor was Connery's looks.
If Connery ended up playing for Manchester United, they would benefit not only from his skills but also his looks, and for a price of £25 per week, it was a good investment with barely any downsides.
The Name's Bond... James Bond
After declining Sir Matt Busby's offer that day, Connery's life did not improve, and his life was full of struggles for the next 10 years.
However, Connery slowly got more prominent roles from the usual staffing of a theater and played some minor roles in films and plays. However, Connery's big breakthrough came later, playing James Bond in Dr.No.
Connery had to compete against hundreds of others in the audition for this role. At first, Ian Fleming, the screenwriter for the film, who had the most influential voice in picking his actors, already crossed Connery's name off multiple times.
"He's not what I envisioned James Bond (to look like). I'm looking for Commander Bond and not an overgrown stunt-man," Fleming said in an interview.
That said, Blanche Blackwell, Ian Fleming's wife, was the person rumored to pick Connery. Blackwell said: "Men would not be able to see, but he (Connery) has a very strong sex appeal."
You only live twice
Connery accomplished his role as James Bond 007 well, playing six films for the franchise.
Once the actor was changed from Bond to George Lazenby in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the ratings massively dropped. So the studio had to recruit Connery once more to play Bond in Diamonds Are Forever before Roger Moore took over.
Besides playing James Bond, Connery had an outstanding acting career, winning an oscar for his role in The Untouchables, two BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globes.
The Sunday Herald called Connery The Greatest Living Scot, and in 1989 he was voted Sexiest Man Alive by the People's magazine.
Connery's greatness led him to be knighted in 2000 and henceforth known as Sir Sean Connery.
Therefore this is the story of the very first agent 007 in history. The man who climbed from the depths of life struggles to reach the peak of his career beautifully.
What would happen if Connery accepted Sir Matt Busby's offer that day? How would his life have changed? How would the film industry and football industry be? We'll never know.
The best way to end this article is to quote Sir Sean Connery himself.
"Perhaps I'm not a good actor, but I would be even worse at doing anything else."
Sources:
https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/actor-sean-connery-was-almost-a-manchester-united-player
https://www.scottishjuniorfa.com/scottish-junior-fa/history/sean-connery/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Connery
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000125/awards?ref_=nm_awd
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_James_Bond_films
