My football

UPFRONT

Which was the first football match you ever attended?

I was so young, I can’t remember the first game other than I’ve got this image of myself in the Holte End, sitting on the barrier with my dad behind me. The first match I clearly remember was an away game at Leicester – we got relegated that season. We were sitting right behind the goal and they used to have old metal bars in the back of the net – we scored, but it hit one of those bars in the back of the net, rebounded out and the ref said it wasn’t a goal. We drove back from Leicester feeling very downhearted, but I remember getting smitten by the colours, then it just gets in your blood.

Who was your childhood hero?

Colin Withers, the first goalkeeper I saw in action at Villa Park. He made me want to become a goalkeeper, so I spent most of my youth kicking balls against walls and catching them.

I never quite became a goalkeeper – it’s a similar role to a drummer, you’re the unsung hero at the back, who only gets noticed when you screw up.

What was your finest moment as a player?

I didn’t have any! I was terrible. I was fine whenever I was practising in the garden, but as soon as you’re in those great big nets on a real football pitch, you’d be standing there for half an hour, and suddenly they come racing down the pitch with the ball, then everyone is shouting, “Taylor, save it!” It’s a moment of enormous pressure!

What do you like most about going to a match?

It’s a return to my roots. I was born within a mile of Villa Park – I must have heard the Holte End when Villa scored from my pram. I take my dad now and he’s well into his 80s. I also take my kids, the ones that are Villa fans. I love the atmosphere on a dark, dreary Saturday afternoon, that mixture of grime and glamour. When they come out of the tunnel, it never fails to send shivers down my spine.

How has watching football changed for you since you were a kid?

Nothing’s changed, really – maybe the seats I sit in are a bit posher now! But the experience never changes, I’m still on the edge of my seat for 90 minutes. I can’t bear to miss any of it. Some people go into hospitality and rock up 10 minutes after the second half has started. I’m not like that, I absolutely have to be in my seat to see every minute of the game. I just find it exhilarating, the whole thing. That’ll never change.

What’s your favourite goal you’ve ever seen live?

In recent years, John McGinn against Sheffield Wednesday. I was sitting with my 10-year-old son and McGinn