AARON GRABS SOME GLORY FOR HIMSELF
CELINE Dion’s Titanic anthem is not what you expect to hear blaring out of a footballer’s phone but Aaron Wilbraham has got it on repeat. After scoring the goal of his life that kept Bolton in the Championship, the 38-yearold has been inundated with videos of his magic moment played to the backdrop of Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’. For a veteran striker, this should all be water off a duck’s back. But Wilbraham admits he has spent his career in the shadows while others have grabbed the limelight and this is his greatest moment in a 20-year career that has included five promotions and nine different clubs. For once, the attention has been all on him. “Throughout my career, I have taken the hits so that other people can get the goals. I have put my head in where it hurts for the good of the team,” he said. “Steve Coppell said I never got the attention I deserved for the work I do and once told me to be more selfish and get some glory for myself. “On Sunday, I did that. It felt like a reward.” Wilbraham’s winner against Nottingham Forest will live long in the memory of Bolton fans. Trailing 2-1 with a few minutes left, their fate looked sealed. But when centre-back David Wheater levelled with three minutes left, hope was restored and, unbelievably, Wilbraham popped up the next minute to steer a magnificent header into the bottom corner to send Burton and Barnsley down. “It was unbelievable, I am still on cloud nine just thinking about it. It is the sort of thing you dream of and to think that everyone thought we were down when we were 2-1 behind,” said Wilbraham. “I have had five promotions, two to the Premier League, which were very special, two to the Championship and one to League One. “I played the full 120 minutes with Crystal Palace when we got promoted at Wembley in 2013. I have had some big moments but that is definitely the best moment of my career, just because of the importance of the goal to everyone at the club. “I was getting my haircut on Tuesday and the catering manager from the stadium came over and thanked me – telling me how much of a difference it makes to them. “As a footballer, you don’t always think about how much it means to others. Their livelihoods depend on it.” The Bolton squad certainly celebrated in style, heading out in Manchester on Sunday night and mobbing hero Wilbraham when he arrived. The striker is back in his native north west in the winter of a career which has taken him from Stockport to Bristol City, via MK Dons and Norwich. But any thoughts that this will be a final hurrah could not be further from his mind, “I have had loads of messages and people getting in touch,” he added. “My old school teacher has been in touch and colleagues I have played with, some I have not even spoken to in the last 20 years. I was still replying to people at 2am after the game. “I want to go on until I am 40. I am 38 now, so I have a couple more seasons in me definitely.”