JAMES Dean wants to land the knockout blow for Chorley when they play his former club Halifax Town in the FA Cup today, but the striker almost swapped a career scoring goals for one kicking people in the head when he was younger.

A popular player amongst the supporters of both clubs, the 29-year-old has enjoyed the best spells of his career with the Shaymen and the Magpies.

But as a teenager he almost gave up his footballing ambitions to pursue a promising career as a professional kickboxer.

For two years Dean was playing part-time for Clitheroe, and had four successful fights as a kickboxer, before Conference side Northwich Victoria came calling, and he decided to swap the gloves for the boots.

“I went down for a week’s trial and it went from there,” he said. “I had to choose between kickboxing and football and obviously the football paid a little bit better than the kickboxing, and you don’t get hurt as much.”

Dean, who was born and still lives in the Accrington area, got into kickboxing when he was working as a lifeguard at Hyndburn Sports Centre, and he had fights in Stranraer, Coventry, Middlesbrough and Birmingham.

“There was no money in it, I just did it for the enjoyment,” he added. “It’s not like it is now when the MMA comes into it and people are all doing that and it’s on the telly, kickboxing was just a hobby to keep you fit and look after yourself basically.”

After deciding to go down the football route, Dean quickly moved into the Football League, earning a contract at Bury.

“I thought ‘wow’, it was going from the UniBond First Division to the Conference to the Football League, all in the space of eight months,” he said.

“Everyone wants to be a professional footballer, no matter what level you play at. Chris Casper was the manager at the time, I signed a one-year contract and played a few games, I did okay but I didn’t really get a fair shot at it.

“I didn't want to sit on the bench, it’s okay sitting on the bench of a Football League club but it’s not the same if you’re not playing.”

The decision to step down back into non-league has led to the most enjoyable time of his career. After a spell with Harrogate Town he went to FC Halifax, a reborn club after the previous incarnation had entered administration.

Dean scored 83 times in 130 games for the Shaymen, and thrived playing in front of big crowds.

“From Halifax the last six years of my career have been the best.” he said. “That was the moment I started enjoying my football, the crowds they used to get there were unbelievable. To experience it was amazing.”

At Halifax Dean formed one third of a potent attacking trio alongside Jamie Vardy, who is now playing for Leicester City in the Premier League, and Lee Gregory, who is now playing for Millwall in the Championship.”

“I watched Jamie a couple of weeks ago against United and he absolutely destroyed them,” said Dean. “You could see he was a player who was bound for better things, it was just a matter of time, somebody to take a gamble on him. I don’t think it took him long, you just need that chance and someone to believe in you.”

After three seasons with Halifax Dean decided to leave the club, believing he had taken them as far as he could.

A spell at AFC Fylde followed, but he struggled to earn a regular starting spot and eventually left his contract early.

“Garry Flitcroft gave me a call and said he wanted to sit down and speak with me to see if I was interested,” Dean said of his move to Victory Park. “As soon as I met him I sort of knew it was the right club for me. He said ‘I’ll make you love football again’. That’s all I needed to hear really.”

Dean hit the ground running with the Magpies, and sees similarities between them and Halifax, and the crowds the two sides get.

“As a player it sells itself if a manager comes up to you and says ‘listen, I want you to sign for this club, we’re getting five, six, seven hundred every week, a thousand’,” he said. “You’re going to go there rather than playing for another club where they might pay you twice as much but you’re playing in front of 200 fans.

“You want to play in front of as many people as you can. It wasn’t about the money, it was about playing in front of a crowd.”

Dean is convinced that Chorley, who are currently third in the Conference North, can eventually make the Football League, and he is loving life playing under Flitcroft, with Matt Jansen also a member of the backroom staff at Victory Park.

“Their advice, just to sit down and talk to them and listen to some of the stories, and the advice that they give is unique, it’s second-to-none, you’ve just got to make sure you listen because it will help, they’ve been there, they’ve played against some of the best players in the world.

“Janny still joins in training now, and he destroys everybody, he’s unbelievable. The gaffer tells him sometimes ‘pass the ball, pass the ball’, but he just takes everybody on and scores, it’s ‘right, come off, you’re not playing properly, let them have a chance’, it’s incredible.”

Today will be the first time Dean has faced Halifax since he left them, with the winners qualifying for the first round proper of the FA Cup.

It is Chorley’s first involvement in the fourth qualifying round for 21 years, and they haven’t made the first round for 24 years.

Dean is due some luck in the FA Cup, having missed the biggest game FC Halifax have played because of suspension, a common theme in the early years of his career, when his aggression and temper used to get the better of him.

“With Halifax we got to the first round against Charlton,” he said, “it was televised and I was suspended, I was absolutely gutted, I felt sick as a dog when the draw was made.

“I used to travel in with Si Garner and he text me saying we’ve got Charlton at home, and I was thinking ‘oh my God’, and then the next day I got another text saying it’s being televised, I thought is that not bad enough. The TV and all that was there for the training and I’m thinking I’m not going to be a part of this.”

Dean will most definitely be a part of the action today, with a crowd of around 3,000 expected at Victory Park, and it is a situation that could well bring the best out of the former kickboxer.