Graham Alexander: In The Playground

What team did you support as a lad?
Coventry City because they were my local team but I also supported Rangers as well.

What players do you remember from that time?
The main one that I remember is Davie Cooper, I remember listening to my dad talking about him, he was a top player. But I had a season ticket at Coventry from about the age of nine and the best player I saw for them was David Speedie, he was class.

What era was that?
It was the year just after we had won the FA Cup, he joined us in the summer of ’87 and he played for us for a couple of years before he went to Liverpool but he was the best player I had seen playing for Coventry at the time.

Did you have the kit?
I did, I had some terrible kits in the 70s and early 80s. I had a lot of Coventry kits and a couple of Scotland kits.

What posters did you have on your bedroom wall?
I had absolutely everyone’s. I used to buy Match and Shoot magazine and every player or team poster I used to pull out and put them on my bedroom wall. Every single inch of my wall was covered with stickers or posters of different players.

Which footballer did you want to be when you played in the playground?
Even though I supported Coventry, Liverpool were the big team in those days and Kenny Dalglish was always the quality player so I was always Dalglish or Souness.

What is your first memory of watching football?
It would have been going to watch Coventry, there were some great games. They always seemed to be involved in high pressure games at the end of the season, trying to stay up. I probably saw my first game at the age of seven in the late 70s. I can’t remember the first game but I remember sitting there with my dad and his mates and I’ve loved it ever since.

What are your first memories of the World Cup?
The main ones I remember are the ’82 and ’86 World Cups, they were great World Cups and the ’82 was the first World Cup I can remember. I can’t really remember the ’78 World Cup really, I was only seven. The ’82 one I can remember all the goals that were scored, the Brazil team were an unbelievable team.

Didn’t they hammer Scotland in that one?
They did! David Narey scored the first goal and I remember watching it with my dad thinking we were on for a famous victory and then crying soon afterwards when they’d hammered us 4-1. It was a brilliant game, I remember Zico and Eder scoring, there were some unbelievable goals, I remember Eder chipping Alan Rough and ever since then I remember Brazil for being an amazing team.

What team did you play for as a boy?
I only played for one club team, Coventry Sporting. I went for a trial there with my mate when we were nine and we were quite successful in the early years and we didn’t really change our players, we had the same eight or nine players from the age of nine to sixteen and it was just a fantastic team to play for. I had offers to play for other clubs when I was 15/16 but I wanted to stay and play for the club I’d played for since I was nine, I loved playing for them.

Do you remember your first pair of boots?
Yes, they were probably some second-hand ones from the school lost property box for 50 pence. We weren’t well off back then and for the first few years that’s what we had to do. My first proper boots were a pair of Patrick Chile’s and I got them when I was about 13/14 but that makes you appreciate what you have got in later life.

In The Playground – Patrick Agyemang

56895943

What team did you support as a boy?
Liverpool

Is that the team that you always wanted to play for?
No, not really, I just supported them when I was younger.

So what team did you grow up wanting to play for then?
Probably Arsenal, they had a lot of good players and they were a good London club but as a boy I supported Liverpool because I liked the way they used to play. It was the team that had John Barnes, Ian Rush, McManaman, it was a good team.

What position did you play as a kid?
Striker.

Did you score a lot of goals?
Yes.

What was the team that you played for?
Grasshoppers were my Sunday league team.

Did you have trials at many professional clubs?
Charlton wanted me to do schoolboy trials there but then Wimbledon came in for me and that was it.

Did you grow up with any other famous footballers?
John Terry, Bobby Zamora, Kemi Izzet, Paul Konchesky, Fitz Hall, there was loads, I can’t remember all of them.

What position did you want to be as a youngster?
I’ve always wanted to be a striker.

Which footballers posters did you have on your bedroom wall?
None.

Who was your favourite player?
My favourite player when I was growing up was Ronaldo, he was one of my favourite players but I also liked the older players like Pele and Maradona.

What are you first memories of football?
Watching the World Cup as a kid, I can’t remember which one it was, probably the 1990 World Cup.

What was the first game you went to as a spectator?
It was a Tottenham game, I can’t remember who they were playing but it was at White Hart Lane when I was about 10 or 11 years old, I went with one of my friends.