I outscored Erling Haaland – however as he received the FA Cup, I obtained texts about becoming home windows

Liam Atkinson spent last week, sometimes late in the evening, fitting windows and doors. By Saturday evening, the Longridge Town forward had officially outscored Manchester City star Erling Haaland in the FA Cup.

The 27-year-old, alongside Chelmsford City striker Lyle Taylor, was confirmed as the FA Cup joint-top goalscorer with eight goals. Both Atkinson and Taylor topped the charts ahead of the likes of Haaland and Chelsea star Pedro Neto, but were forced to watch on as Antoine Semenyo’s effort proved to be decisive in the final.

Atkinson, who hadn’t had a minute of media training before being thrust in front of television cameras for live interviews, was receiving texts from customers while standing alongside the likes of Joe Hart and Joleon Lescott. It was the perfect day for Atkinson as he witnessed his beloved City win the FA showpiece in his first trip to Wembley.

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While the likes of Pep Guardiola and Chelsea caretaker Calum MacFarlane were preparing for the final, Atkinson had a jam-packed schedule with his double-glazing business. He says: “I was trying to keep the clock ticking, keep as busy as possible.

“I had a couple of late days last week just to get the jobs wrapped up. I even had a couple of jobs going on on Saturday, a couple of people were texting me while I was at Wembley Stadium. Customers were texting me and I’m walking around, I’m stood there next to Joe Hart, Joelon Lescott, Lyle Taylor, and customers are texting me chasing up jobs. It was a bit of a crazy situation.

“I could never have imagined that I’d be getting a day out at Wembley walking around and being in presence of people that I’ve watched on TV for so many years. It was a weird experience, but it was a good day.

“It was just surreal, I was just walking around and it didn’t quite feel real and then obviously Sunday we were travelling back and I was like, ‘right, that’s it now, back to normal life, fitting windows and doors’.”

For Atkinson, his FA Cup journey began way back in August, some five months before the Premier League juggernauts stepped foot in the third round, as Longridge of the North West Counties Premier Division in the ninth tier of English football started out in the Extra Preliminary Round.

The windows and doors-fitter netted a would-be winner against Pilkington in stoppage time, also of the North West Counties, but the Greens levelled deep beyond regulation time, taking the tie to a replay.

It proved to be a blessing in disguise as Longridge put their FA Cup opponents to the sword with an 8-1 win, four of them coming from Atkinson. He followed up with a hat-trick in the Lancashire clubs’ Preliminary Round win over Emley to take his tally in the tournament to eight.

The 27-year-old says: “The first couple of games before we played Pilkington away, I was getting chances but I just couldn’t find the target.

“I managed to get my first goal of the season, 93rd minute, Pilkington have equalised and then the replay, I’ve scored four and everything just went my way that Tuesday night. So I’d say without those little things, if we look back on now, it wouldn’t have ever been possible, in hindsight, I’m glad that Pilkington equalised in the 95th minute.”

But their run came to an end in the first qualifying round as they were edged out by Hebburn Town, a team three tiers higher. From then, it was a nervous wait for the 27-year-old in his quest for the golden ball as the tournament progressed.

Taylor, who counts the likes of Nottingham Forest, AFC Wimbledon and Charlton on his professional footballing CV, entered the tournament in the Second Qualifying Round with the National League South side.

Atkinson says: “At the start, we went out pretty early on. There were a couple of lads who were still in. I was at work one day with my cousin on a Saturday, I was keeping an eye on the Chelmsford game and Lyle [Taylor] scored two to equal my eight.

“He’d gone off around the 80th minute, I spoke to him on Saturday, he wasn’t injured either, the manager had just brought him off and then it was the next game against Weston-Super-Mare.

“They got beat 2-0 – that was the nervy moment and then as soon as that was done and dusted, I kind of felt it’s kind of done now, because none of the big boys are gonna be playing [in the early rounds] like Haaland until the later rounds.”

From rubbing shoulders with Premier League champions, newly-crowned FA Cup winners and the riches of Chelsea Football Club, 72 hours later it was back to the graft for Atkinson, fitting fascias in the morning and visiting the local materials shop.

The remarkable feat was made greater considering the forward only made the plunge into non-league football two years after playing with his mates in the Saturday leagues.

Now, Atkinson faces the major decision of deciding where the silverware goes. But first, he has to haggle with his girlfriend as they finish renovating their house.

He says: “We’ve been doing a house up for the last 12 months. So we’re getting to the end of it now, and I’ve said to her, it’s gonna go in kitchen somewhere.

“She said, you’re having your own little office, so we’ll see what happens with that one.”