Notts County player/strength and conditioning coach Mike Edwards talks us through his football memories
First game? I was about seven and I went to Boothferry Park to see a game between Hull and Oldham, and I just remember the chairman at the time being on a horse, doing laps on the pitch and throwing popcorn into the crowd. Hull ended up getting beat 2-1 but it set me up for a childhood of watching my local team play. At the time, my great aunt used to work on the turnstiles and she used to smuggle me in for free – in those days, you could get away with it! First hero? I was a big Eric Cantona fan whilst growing up. He was an unbelievable player and I loved his attitude towards the game. He was class. I ended up being a centre-half, so I didn’t quite emulate being a centre-forward like him. I tried to model my game on him, but, in the end, I got told to stop playing up front! But watching at the time, he was a massive idol of mine and I’ve spoken to people who were lucky enough to play with him in training or in games and they’ve said he was one of the best. First boots? When I was at Hull, you had to do chores and stuff when you were a youth-team player. My first real pair of boots were a Diadora pair, made from soft kangaroo leather. It was Roy Carroll who gave them to me – he was a first-year pro and we had the same size feet. At the time, I thought I was getting an absolute deal at £6070 but later on, when I spoke to him later in our careers, I found out he’d given me a treat. They were a class pair of boots. First kit? Obviously, I was a Hull fan but my dad was a Liverpool fan as well, so my first kit was the old grey ‘Candy’ kit from around 1990. My dad got me the home and the away one and, obviously, Liverpool made a bit of an impression on me when I was younger before I grew out of them. I actually played in that famous Hull ‘tiger-print’ kit when I was around 16, as a YTS player. I’m probably lucky I didn’t make my pro debut in that! First match? My debut was an absolute belter to be involved in – a 5-4 defeat against Rotherham in a local derby in (December) 1997. I’d trained with the youth team, getting ready to play in their game, and the assistant manager said: “What are you doing tomorrow? Do you fancy playing for us at left-back?” So I rocked up there. We found ourselves 5-1 down but scored three goals to make it a nine-goal thriller and I thought, ‘Yeah, I’m definitely going to have a bit of this’. First goal? Someone’s taken it off a VHS and put it on YouTube now – it was against Hayes in the FA Cup (in November 1999) and I used to make out it was 25yard screaming volley. The lads have seen it now and they’ve asked if it was actually a clearance! First red card? Again, this was in a local derby, against Scunthorpe (in December 2001). It was the one and only game my in-laws have come to because I ended up getting sent off and they’ve never come to a game again. It was a bit of a wet day and I just remember the ball spun loose and going into the tackle with another player. The outcome wasn’t good and I ended up being banned for five games for it.