Friday 10 September 2010 09:09, UK
Skysports.com continues its exciting new feature by reminiscing with Scouting for Girls.
My first game was when I went to Watford against Luton, this was years ago. I think David James was playing for Watford at the time because I remember his hair. That's all I can remember, I think Watford lost 2-1. It was five quid to get in and I didn't have much money because I was at school and me and my mates used to go on a Saturday. I think it was a nice day from what I can remember, I'll be honest though, it was a pretty rubbish game. I used to go out in Watford but you never go out if there was a Watford v Luton game on...never!
I'm an Arsenal fan, I've always been an Arsenal fan. My first game I think was Arsenal v Leicester or something like that, I think it was a home win. My dad is an Arsenal fan, he used to go all the time in the 60s and the whole family are all from around Highbury and Islington. I still think we need a couple of players this season, a centre-back a midfielder and another striker. But I think we will do okay - we might actually win something this year.
My first footballing hero was David Seaman. You've got to love David Seaman, he was the best goalkeeper ever I think. That England v Germany 5-1 game - if he hadn't had made that toe-poke save it could have maybe gone the other way. He was a ten-pointer a season for us, an Arsenal legend. I've never been a fan of the hairdo though - he was a man in his 30s with a ponytail! He had some shockers. In Euro 1996 I think he had an undercut with curtains, I remember that, he can't pull it off. I met Ian Wright the other week as well - that was great!
I always watch football and you see stuff like Beckham kicking the Argentina player in 1998 and you think why do they do it? But then you play a little bit and you do get very very competitive, even if you are just mucking around. So for them it must be at the highest level - I always thing 'you idiot' for a little bit but at least they're playing with passion. For villains I just think anyone who dives. Everyone knows there are cameras on you as well, people are going to see you have dived so why do it? It is so blatant. My villain is anyone who dives - it ruins the game. The best diver was Jurgen Klinsmann. He used to pull some moves out when he rolled on the floor, it looked like he'd been shot from a distance.
It was unfortunately probably the World Cup in 1990 and the penalties; with Stuart Pearce missing and Chris Waddle using the moon for a target which was great. That was one of my first, and then there was (USA) '94 which was depressing. I only tend to really remember the bad things, the penalty shootouts and stuff. At the end of the day penalties are just luck of the draw and the England team have lost so many now that they must get it in the back of their head that we haven't won one since 1996. It was a much more dignified way we went out this summer!
I played for my school for a little bit, I wasn't very good to be honest; I was more of a watcher and a manager! I played in goal, my friends said I was a bit like David James. I was a good shot-stopper but I couldn't catch anything, a bit erratic, like Fabien Barthez! When we were in the scouts together we had a 5-a-side tournament with everyone in the scouting association from all over the country and we actually won it on penalties. I scored a penalty and then I saved a penalty, I was well chuffed! I retired after that point there was no point going on, I wasn't going to beat that.
It was that Arsenal one that they said was going to be revolutionary - it had 57 different colours in it! It looked like someone had been sick on it. It was yellow, green, black, it had loads of different colours in it it was horrible. We did a thing with me and my friends down at the park - who could get the weirdest kit out of all of us. The best I could get was the Leicester City reserve keeper shirt, but my friend got the third choice Japanese international shirt so he won. I quite like the Arsenal centenary shirt, the darker one. That was probably my favourite kit, not the other one!
It was probably 'The Bends' by Radiohead because I just loved 'Fake Plastic Trees' and I liked 'My Iron Lung' and the whole album. It was amazing and just so much better than the first one - that was my first memory of buying an album.
