Loughborough’s been wicked, footballs been great playing from 5th team to 2nd team with a range of strange characters. Apart from football, I was in Bill Mo which was awesome, studied Sport & Exercise Science and tried to have as much bant as possible. I’ve had some highlights, I had a red mowhawk in 2nd year which kinda went blonde. Lowlights would have to be getting fined £50 for traffic cone/sign/light theft and not winning a BUSA.
Can you shed any light on your footy career outside of Loughborough?
Played for local boys club and Swansea Schoolboys when younger, before playing youth and senior football at a couple of Welsh teams Llanelli and Neath. Was at Shepshed Dynamo this year but the nearest I got to 1st team action was half time pings.
What is the highest achievement in your career so far?
Receiving a cap against Scotland at U’16s at the Vetch Field, Swansea City’s old stadium
And which is your most memorable game for Loughborough?
Gotta be against Cambridge APU 1s last yr for the 3s. We beat them 7-0, Dolly and Spaniard got hat-tricks I think. Predator was in midfield for them (inside joke), bus journey home was mental and then some of the lads wanted to do a naked run for some reason which led to Dan Thompson and Ryan Gordon getting picked up by the police and two others escaping through hedges.
Who is your best friend in LSAFC (not including Nick Drew)?
Dunno, I’d say Spaniard, Housy and those boys were, and when I was a fresh there were legends that got me involved like Dan Smith, Denny and Smalley. This year I spent most time with the keepers union and I’ve been getting vast in the gym with Moggy, which has been a good laugh.
Have you any funny tales that you can tell us?
Yeah, there’s people going round thinking England can win the World Cup. And, breaking Noels hand playing netball, that was funny.
Which team do you support? Swansea City
Who is your childhood hero and why?
Roger Freestone the Swansea keeper when I was growing up, Andy Macfarlane for scoring in the Autoglass 1994 final which we won against Huddersfield and Lee Trundle.
What three items would you take to a desert island and why?
Cooler full of beer n meat, a signed Autobiography of David Kettle’s new top seller ‘Can I have your phone number: top tips to picking up girls’ and a boat so I can go home for my tea.
Are there any youngsters we should look out for coming through the ranks?
Yeh my ten year old cousin has trial at Hearts, good left peg on him.
Who has the most bant in the whole club?
Gotta be Barks, everyone says it but its true. He’s mental. Karim competes well though, and the new social secs have got massive potential.
When people say in football ‘play in the hole’, can you tell me where that is? Yeah, not far from Cardiff Central train station, its called Ninian park, home of Cardiff City.
What’s your preference between these street cred benchmarks:
Lost or Prison Break? Prison Break, well neither, Neighbours
Pat Butcher or Pauline Fowler? Pat
Prada shoes or my granddad sandles? Prada
Peter Crouch or Michael Owen? Michael Owen, he’s Welsh
Russ Noble or Andy Noble? Andy
Pint or girlie bottle? Pint (standard!)
Eddie Izzard or Jimmy Carr? Jimmy Carr
Lastly, what does the future hold for your football career? Do you have a message for the lads at LSAFC? Doesn’t look good, still waiting for a growth spurt and some natural ability. I’d like to say its been an honour playing with the boys for the last 3yrs, keep up the banter, keep winning and enjoy it, it goes too fast. God bless.
A huge thanks to Rhys for this article.