Sheffield United: 'There were dead bodies and boats floating down the street'

“There were bodies floating down the street, there were ships floating down roads because of all the water,” he told The Star, remembering the damage Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful ever recorded, caused after making landfall in the Philippines. “It was terrible, just terrible. The whole place was destroyed and the toll it had taken on the people, well, it was just awful to see.”

Starosta had been playing for the United Football League outfit, based in Cebu City, for nearly a year when Haiyan struck in 2013. With wind speeds as high as 195 miles per hour being recorded, it destroyed the infrastructure of entire communities and the human cost was even higher with over 6,000 fatalities confirmed and another 1,771 people reported as missing. Tacloban, where Global owner Dan Palami’s family lived, had borne the brunt.

“We’d been playing a match in Singapore but had been there only a few days earlier,” Starosta continues as he picks up the story. “I had people from home ringing me to ask if I was okay and we were but so many others weren’t. The owner wanted to use his money to try and rebuild things and so he paid a lot of us up and let us go. I was disappointed to leave, because I was really enjoying it out there. But how could you argue? You couldn’t. Some things are more important than football.”

Starosta, now aged 35 and running joinery and home improvements business New Era, joined following spells with teams including Brentford, Bradford City and of course United. He also represented Lechia Gdansk and Miedz Legnica of Poland, having played for the country at under-20 level during his time at Bramall Lane.

“Brian Reid, the former Rangers player who is now in charge of Albion Rovers, was my manager at Global,” Starosta said. “But we also lived in the same apartment block and he also became my mate. I know that sounds weird and in normal circumstances it just wouldn’t happen. But because we were from the same country and living in the same place, we’d go out after a game and talk football. He ended up looking after the Filipino under-23’s side too, and asked me to help him with that.

“Where we lived over there, you had paradise right on your doorstep. But everything got wrecked by that typhoon, heartbreaking to witness.”

Starosta, whose footballing career finished with spells at Nuneaton and Parkgate, turned professional with United in 2007 after progressing through his hometown club’s academy. He will be back at Bramall Lane later this month, to watch his friend and ex-team mate Kyle McFadzean in action for Coventry City.

“Kyle, I know he won’t mind me saying this, he’s a huge Blade like me,” Starosta said. “I remember being on holiday with him once and he had a chance of coming back, long before he went to Coventry. He was pleading with his manager to let him do it but it didn’t happen. We’ve decided to get a box that day and I’m really looking forward to it.”