Former Blackpool and Hull forward Ben Burgess talks us through his football memories
First match? It was Manchester City v Bournemouth at Maine Road (in May 1989). I went with my dad and my sisters as my dad was a City fan. I think City were 3-1 up and they ended up drawing 3-3. That sort of disappointment repeated itself as a City fan for the first 20 to 25 years of my life! I think I was about seven at the time. My kids only know it as a good time to be City fans. First hero? I used to really like David White and Garry Flitcroft. Then I ended up playing with Garry at Blackburn, so that was good. I think I had Flitcroft on the back of my shirt! I liked Niall Quinn as well, but Flitcroft was the one. I don’t think I ever told him I had his name on my shirt as a kid! First boots? I think my next-door neighbour gave me some and they would have been Gola ones. I vaguely remember them. They only did black in those days, didn’t they? Then a bit of red started to creep in with the Adidas Predators. First kit? I think it would’ve been a City kit and it would have had ‘Brother’ on the front. I’m not too sure on the exact year. There’ll be pictures of me somewhere but I couldn’t be certain. First game? My debut was for Blackburn. Graeme Souness played me against Portsmouth at home. I didn’t know anything about Portsmouth in those days and the day before the game, the lads were winding me up saying I’d be playing against this terrifying centre-half. He weighed about 18 stone, he was 6 ft 6in and he was called Darren Moore. I was thinking: ‘yeah, whatever. As if there’d be a player like that’. Then, when it got to the game, there he was. Absolutely huge! He pretty much threw me around for my debut. We drew 1-1. Lee Carsley scored for us. I didn’t let the atmosphere get to me too much. It’s good to have your family there and running out in front of all the fans. It was just a really good moment and something I’ll never forget. First goal? It was for Brentford on loan in 2001 and it came against Port Vale. Someone passed me the ball on the right. I cut in on to my left foot and curled one into the corner, which was a nice way to score. It was my debut for Brentford as well, so it kick-started everything for me and endeared myself to the fans. One of the better debuts I had! First red card? I’ve never had a red card. I’ve been booked a few times for diving and they were never dives! When you’re as big as me, it takes a long time to get to the floor – it just looked like diving. I’ve had a few in reserve games as I’m frustrated at having to play in the reserves. I remember one reserve game when I was having a nightmare, but the referee was terrible as well. I said something to the referee and he was threatening to send me off. I said to him: ‘You’re absolutely rubbish. That’s why you’re reffing the reserves’ and he said: ‘You’re not so good and that’s why you’re playing in it.’ Pretty good comeback, I thought!