Ray parlour

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

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 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 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

Coventry City have been here before. In 1967, Jimmy Hill’s Sky Blues won the Second Division and were promoted to the top flight for the first time in their history. Lifelong innovator Hill took the u

The room erupts. Not with cheers, but laughter. There are around 400 people at Gateshead’s Hilton Hotel, including Dan Burn, and a joke has just been cracked on the microphone at the defender’s expens