Blue Square Premier club Altrincham have signed Adam Carden from UniBond League Premier Division neighbours FC United of Manchester.
Midfielder Carden, whose brother Paul plays for Cambridge United, joined FC United in September 2007.
Adam looked like starting his career with Chester City, but instead he signed for Southport, then in the Conference National.
His performances for the Sandgrounders caught the eye of Manchester City, which resulted in the then 17-year-old spending two weeks with the Premiership club.
He returned to Southport but fell out of favour as the club won just two games out of fifteen towards the end of the 2002/03 season, resulting in relegation.
He joined Runcorn after a short spell at Wigan but found it hard to get into a routine of training just two evenings a week compared with a full-time regime at Haig Avenue.
He stayed with Runcorn for a season but he decided to make a fresh start elsewhere when manager Liam Watson left for Southport.
Watson`s departure prompted Carden to join Accrington Stanley, where he spent the vast majority of his time in the reserves with only the odd cup tie giving him a chance to impress boss John Coleman.
He then picked up a torn cartilage injury which kept him out for over eight months and after recovering, he parted company with Stanley and joined Burscough, where he enjoyed his best season of his career, culminating in a dramatic last-day promotion – clinching the UniBond Premier Division on goal difference.
Despite the success he enjoyed with the Linnets, he left for FC United and was voted player of the season by his fellow players.
