What if your parents ended up spending a train journey with mega-famous soccer stars but had no idea who they were? Well, what follows is a beguiling yarn spun on Twitter by Nate Patrick, a FIFA 19 and E-sports commentator whose mother and father had the pleasure of bumping into a train full of Manchester United players.

To set the scene a little, Nate was obsessed with football while growing up in Australia but it's fair to suggest that his immediate family don't share his passion for the game....

Little did we know when referee Jon Moss issued James Milner with a red card during Liverpool's win over Crystal Palace that the pair had a history that extended far back beyond their Premier League days.

It came to light after the incident that Moss and Milner have known each other for a long, long time as the former was actually the latter's PE teacher at junior school.

Sure enough, a photo soon emerged on social media showing Moss (left) in his role as coach of the Westbrook Lane Primary School...

While professional football constitutes the perfect job for many, there are some pro players who use their newfound fortune to bankroll the extra-curricular projects that they've always dreamed of doing.

Here we look at some of the most interesting labours of love adopted by pros as sidelines to their hectic sporting day job.

Huddersfield lost 3-0 at home to Man City on Sunday without a manager in the dugout, following David Wagner's departure last week.

By all accounts Jan Siewert, head coach of Borussia Dortmund's second string, was being lined up by the Terriers to step into Wagner's wake. And word quickly spread that Siewart was in the crowd to watch his new side take on City at the John Smiths' Stadium, which sparked a race among the attending media outlets to spot him up in the terraces.

Sky Sports even sent a reporter ...

Long-suffering fans of Liga MX club Atlas have not seen their team win a first-division title since 1951, but the Guadalajara institution achieved something on Thursday that no other Mexican club can boast: Lionel Messi followed them on Instagram.

Big day for @atlasfc. The Mexican club officially welcomed Lionel Messi to the "red-and-black family."

(Messi followed the club on Instagram) #ligamxeng pic.twitter.com/7sULNbptYR

— Tom Marshall (@mexicoworldcup) January 18, 2019

And they made the most of being one of the 219 accounts that Messi follows.

Los Rojinegros posted an Instagram story "welcoming" Messi to the "red-and-black" family, before adding another explaining that he wasn't actually joining the struggling club,...

With the NBA in town once again, several famous footballers visited the O2 Arena on Thursday night to watch the Washington Wizards take on the New York Knicks.