EXCLUSIVE: Ex-Premier League wonderkid eyes FA Cup giant-killing with eighth-tier non-league club
Isthmian North League side Maldon and Tiptree make the trip to League One Port Vale in the first round of the FA Cup this weekend with a host of former professionals in their ranks
It took just five minutes and 16 seconds for Freddie Sears to make himself a household name.
Now, over 17 years on from scoring the winner on his West Ham debut, he is hoping an FA Cup giant-killing can provide him with the perfect swansong. Sears was just 18 when he came off the bench to net the winner for the Hammers against Blackburn in the Premier League in March 2008 and announce himself to the world.
Despite a long and successful career since, it is that goal which people still ask him about most to this day. But he is hoping to put his name up in lights one more time when eighth-tier Maldon and Tiptree travel to League One Port Vale on Sunday in the FA Cup first round.
Sears, 35, told Mirror Football : "You'd be surprised how many people come up to me and say, 'I was there for your debut at West Ham'. It feels like a lifetime ago now."
Having featured for nine other clubs since, including notable spells at Colchester and Ipswich, it's not hard to see why. Yet Sears' passion for the game still burns bright, hence why he's still not ready to bow out just yet.
"Football is all you know. It's tough to walk away sometimes," he said. Asked what keeps him going, he was unequivocal. "The love of the game. I still enjoy playing on a Saturday afternoon. And scoring goals.
"I've been quite lucky, I've not had many injuries so I'm still feeling really good."
That much is evident by the striker's form heading into Sunday's tie, having scored five during Maldon's run already with another 10 goals coming in the Isthmian North League where 'The Jammers' currently sit top. Sears, who is currently working towards his UEFA A coaching licence in West Ham's academy, is not the only recognisable name in Maldon's ranks.
Ex-Manchester City midfielder Kevin Horlock is the manager while their squad boasts a host of ex-pros including Gary Hooper, albeit the former Norwich and Celtic striker is currently absent through injury. And Sears is confident the lowest-ranked team in the FA Cup can spring an upset to remember.
"It's nice being the underdog," he said. "We've got nothing to lose. Everyone expects you to get thumped. If you go there and cause an upset, that's what the FA Cup is about.
"That's why everyone loves this competition so much, because anyone can play anyone. You're two rounds away from playing Manchester City or Liverpool. But the first round is an amazing journey for us. This is our cup final."
Naturally, everyone wants to be the hero in the cup final. Even Sears. "If we can win 1-0 and I score it would be a dream come true."
It would certainly give him something else to talk about in the street than his West Ham debut - not that he minds. "Sometimes it does get a bit boring, but they are moments which people still talk about now and if that moment doesn't happen you don't know where you would be in the game," he added.
"You don't get better moments than that. They are moments you can't take away and you wouldn't change for the world. That live with you forever.
"When I'm retired I'm sure I'll look back and think, 'wow, that was really something special'. But one more last send-off, that would be class."