Rotherham United winger Joe Newell talks us through his football memories
First game you watched live? That would have been Bradford v Birmingham City at St Andrew’s when I was about six years old. I’m not sure how it ended. I only remember because my dad, Charlie, tells me it was the first one we went to. I’m a Blues fan because my dad and the whole family are. We went to watch them when I was young. I liked Liverpool, as well, when I was younger. I was football mad. First football hero? That’s pretty easy, Andy Johnson, king of the penalties (pictured)! I liked him because he was young, a striker, scored goals, and at the time he was the fans’ favourite. Even after he left St Andrew’s it remained the same. I still liked him. First pair of boots? My first pair were a set of Woolworths own brand that you just picked out of the big cart in the middle of the shops. My mum, Julia, picked out some for me. They hold a special place in my heart. I can’t imagine they were particularly comfortable, but they must have been OK because I did all right in them. First kit? It was a Liverpool kit because I liked them, as well as Birmingham. I got the green away shirt – I think it was maybe a Reebok one – for Christmas when I was seven or eight, so around 2000. I’m not sure if it was my favourite one, it was just the one I got. It might have been on offer. I just remember getting it for Christmas. First professional game? That was for Peterborough, against Yeovil at home. We’d already made sure we were in the play-offs, so Darren Ferguson gave me my debut. It was one of those end-of-season games. It finished 2-2, but it was all a bit of a blur, apart from the fact I got cramp in the 50th minute and then played the full 90! The last half an hour was torture. First professional goal? My first goal was away to Leeds about a year after my debut. I think George Boyd passed to me on the edge of the box, or won it back maybe. It fell clear on the edge and I nipped past someone, went into the box and nutmegged the keeper – it was an all right finish! We went into halftime at 1-0, with me on top of the world after scoring my first goal, but it finished in a 4-1 defeat, so it was bittersweet. First red card? It came in the 2014 Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final against Chesterfield at Wembley. A nice one to remember! It was a petulant kick-out after being fouled on the floor and I got a straight red. Thankfully, we won 3-1 but I got a bit of stick from the lads. It would have been a lot worse if we’d lost, though. The manager wasn’t too hard on me, but obviously he wasn’t best pleased.