David James’ day as a striker

A chatty right- back denied the goalkeeper England joy, before a surprise stint as emergency goal- getter at Manchester City

You grew up supporting Luton but started your career at their fierce rivals, Watford. What was that like?

I didn’t actually tell people I was a Luton fan. I had a year at Spurs and we played Watford, got beat 6- 2 and I strangely ended up joining Watford a week later. Apparently, if it wasn’t for me it could have been more – either that, or Spurs were happy to get rid of me, I don’t know. There was a rumour going round that I used to wear Luton socks under my Watford socks, but I’ve never possessed a Luton kit.

How exciting was your move to Liverpool?

I was excited, but there was also a sense of trepidation because I was moving up north. The biggest change was that after going from schoolboy to first team at Watford, I had such a family relationship with everybody. I could go anywhere at the club – after training, my usual thing was to sit in the club shop, drink coffee, smoke fags and play darts. Liverpool were expected to win something every year, and that kind of expectation was something I wasn’t used to.

What was the story behind the white suits at the 1996 FA Cup Final?

The cream suits! I think John Barnes was in charge of it all – I’d done a bit of modelling for Giorgio Armani so I called them, but my involvement ended there and I handed over to John. If you’ve seen pictures of his suits in the 1990s, cream was an understatement. If we’d won the final, we’d have been the best dressed team ever to win it. Because we lost, people said we looked like a band.