Cureton could have been part of the famous Manchester United team that included Salford City co-owners Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Phil Neville, but the striker chose a different path.
Now aged 40, Cureton is currently playing for his 14th club, Dagenham and Redbridge, and comes up against the team he first faced on his professional debut for Norwich City as a 19-year-old on Saturday.
The Class of 92 minus potential recruit Cureton
Cureton failed to mark his debut with a goal against Everton at Carrow Road in 1994 and his career could have turned out very differently if he had not told his dad to turn down Sir Alex Ferguson.
“I was playing in Bristol locally, I’d been at Southampton and I was at Norwich,” said Cureton. “I had a lot of teams chasing me, as you do as a young lad. I went up to Man United for a normal training session, got offered the chance to sign apprenticeship and pro forms, but signed for Norwich instead.
“It just happened that the youth team I would have joined was their best-ever group. They weren’t the Class of 92 at that point, they were just youth team players like myself.”
Ferguson took a group of youngsters out for dinner and even called Cureton’s family home to find out why he was signing for Norwich.
Cureton turned down Manchester United at 14 but 26 years on is still thriving Photo: THE TELEGRAPH
“I went to United for a week in the holidays,” said Cureton. “We played a game, then we all went out for dinner with Sir Alex. A few of the boys, who had been there years, stood up and sang. Ryan Giggs and David Beckham would have been there.
“I was only 14, but I suppose at that age you don't really know too much so you take it all in your stride.
“One thing I do remember is that he [Ferguson] rang my house. I turned them down, the scout went back and said I wasn't going to sign. So he rang, my dad answered the phone and I remember thinking: ‘Dad just said I didn't want to sign.’
“I suppose at 14 you don't really know. I was still at school, I was comfortable at Norwich and so decided to go with them. I'm a Man United fan, so I don't know where it came from, maybe I was nervous. Life could have been different one way or the other, I might not have been as good as the Class of 92 and not made it, or I might have been carried along with them and had the career they had.”
Rather than getting a dose of the famous hairdryer, Cureton received a fond reception from Ferguson when their paths next crossed.
“It's funny, after a few years I was back at Bristol Rovers and Lee Martin had a testimonial,” said Cureton. “Sir Alex brought his team down, with Beckham and Scholes. He came up to me and remembered, and said: ‘You should have signed.’ I'd have been 23 at that point, so it was nine years later.
'Uncle' scores his 250th league goal
“He said to Olly [Ian Holloway, the Bristol Rovers manager], because it was me and Jason Roberts playing up top, ‘You’ve got two good players there.’ I scored two and was quite pleased. It was weird, even then he knew who I was. He probably hadn't followed my career, but he knew my name, and cracked a little joke about it. I was thinking ‘I wish I'd signed!’”
Cureton is old enough to be the father of some of his Dagenham team-mates, but has no problem relating to the club’s youngsters as he is still the dressing-room DJ.
“I still do all the music in the changing rooms, everything,” said Cureton, who has scored 289 career goals and wants to hit 300. “It’s normally hip hop, R&B, a bit of dance. I get tasked with it, I did it last year as well – I normally use Mixcloud, DJ Russke is quite good. Everyone seems to like it, nobody moans. We have it on the coach as well.
“At the end of games if we’ve won, I try to drop more old-school stuff from the 90s but even the younger lads like that as well. I take it quite seriously.”
While his team-mates call him ‘Uncle’ or ‘Dad’, Cureton is also used to getting age-related stick from the stands and his opponents.
“We played Carlisle last season and there was a little ruckus going on and I happened to get involved,” said Cureton. “Someone shouted at me, ‘Shouldn’t you be retired yet.' I turned around and said: 'How old are you?’ He said 19 and I replied,:‘I was playing in the Premier League at 19 maybe you should think about that.’
“I got stick the other day when we played Cambridge and fans shouted that I should be collecting my bus pass. But I tend to go to grounds now and get more respect. I have come off at stadiums, like York, and got standing ovations.”
Cureton will certainly receive plenty of respect if the oldest DJ in the Football League can get on the scoresheet at Goodison Park.
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