“sven got in touch to see if i’d be keen on playing for england – that made me so proud”

Many kids come from council estates, but not many came from a council estate in Camden Town, when Britpop was at its peak. It was the ’90s, Oasis were huge and Noel Gallagher would go to the boozer wi

You were subbed on and off in 11 minutes on your Blackburn debut, then scored the winning penalty in a League Cup tie in your second game. That must have been a whirlwind? Blackburn are my hometown cl

You worked with the great Brian Clough at Sunderland, Derby and Nottingham Forest. How was your relationship with him? Initially, I was in his bad books. When I joined Sunderland as an apprentice, he

You don’t usually join Chelsea halfway through a Club World Cup. And you definitely don’t normally land at the tournament, lace up your boots, then immediately win the thing. Joao Pedro, apparently, d

J ack Wilshere is such a smiling character that it’s occasionally easy to forget how much of a competitor he is. Short in stature but not willpower, Wilshere was training alongside Thierry Henry at 14

CIAO TO LA SCALA OF FOOTBALL ST ...