He made his Manchester United debut with David Beckham and was considered a better right-back than Gary Neville.
But while his former team-mates went on to enjoy glittering careers with United and England, John O'Kane failed to make the grade.
After just seven appearances under Sir Alex Ferguson, O'Kane left United, his nomadic professional career over at 28, finishing up at non-league Hyde United.
Given his formidable talent, O'Kane, 46, should have been a United star for years, along with his contemporaries Beckham, the Nevilles, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt.
But O'Kane knew he was somehow different from them and it was not until a few years ago, in his mid-forties, that he was diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum.
That came as a huge relief to O'Kane, who was subjected to unkind nicknames, such as 'the Spaceman', because team-mates felt their detached colleague was on another planet.
O'Kane tells his story, with searing honesty, in 'Bursting the Bubble: Football, Autism & Me', an account of his struggle with autism and how it blighted his career.
“I knew I was different but, back then, there wasn't the knowledge about autism that there is now, so you just got on with it.
“So I just got on with my life, suppressed a lot of stuff and continued to do that when I was playing.
“Apart from the pressure of playing, you had the pressure of dealing with stuff going on in your head.
“Obviously everyone has their brain talking to them, when you're thinking about things and processing things.
“This was like having a negative person in your head saying 'What are you doing? You can't do this' and you're constantly questioning yourself. It was a kind of self-sabotage.
“Technically I was a very good player, so that dug me out of a hole, but it was more the mental side of things that was ultimately my downfall.”
During a Twitter exchange a couple of years ago, Neville mocked O’Kane for having “cowered” in a United shirt, a jibe the recipient felt was a low blow.
“I used to like Gaz and I respect him because he worked so hard to get where he did,” said O'Kane, whom Ferguson rated ahead of Neville. “But he was out of order there.”
After his career ended, following stints at Everton, Bolton, Blackpool and Hyde, O'Kane worked as a roofer and scaffolder, before a lengthy spell in the care sector.
His experience of feeling different made him ideally-suited to work with vulnerable children, but it took the intervention of his ex-wife to get to the bottom of his own condition.
“She said you need to do something about this, you've never had any help, you've dealt with it all yourself,” recalled O'Kane, who now works in autism and neuro-diversity coaching.
“So I went for a consultation and I was diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum, which was a huge relief after so many years. You're not hiding anything anymore.”
O'Kane made his full senior United debut with Beckham, with whom he roomed, in the League Cup against Port Vale in 1994, and has fond memories of his celebrated former team-mate.
“David has OCD,” said O'Kane. “He used to line up his aftershave bottles nice and neatly, and we'd mess it all up for a laugh. He'd go absolutely mental!”
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But O'Kane, a father-of-three, has no regrets at the route his life has taken compared to Beckham.
Football became an ordeal for O'Kane, who only found peace of mind when he was finally out of the game.
“When I was working with kids in care, I was getting up and thinking 'I'm looking forward to going to work',” said O'Kane. “I loved it.
“People who found out I used to play football would say 'what the f*** are you doing here?' but I loved it and did it for about 15 years.
“The book has been a really cathartic process too, and if I can help one person with autism, then it's been worthwhile.”
