football firsts
Ex-Southend and Gillingham midfielder Kevin Maher talks us through his football memories
First game you watched live?
It was West Ham against Liverpool when I was six or seven years old – so the early-tomid 1980s. I was a Liverpool fan and managed to sit right at the front of the stand.
I don’t remember the score but I remember Steve Nicol, who was playing, coming over the barrier where I was and rubbing my head. I think that was the game that made me a real Liverpool fan.
First football hero?
It has to be Kenny Dalglish. Being a Liverpool fan at that time, with the success of the team – they were the best in the country during that period – it was a no-brainer. With Kenny, it was how he played, what he contributed, and he just had a swagger about him.
But the whole Liverpool team – players like Peter Beardsley, John Barnes, John Aldridge – during the late 80s was one of the best they ever had.
Internationally, I remember Italy’s Paolo Rossi scoring a hat-trick at the 1982 World Cup against Brazil. What a game it was! Everything about it was special, from the colours to the occasion and Rossi was excellent.
First football boots?
My first boots were a classic pair of Patrick Kevin Keegans! They were all black with two little stripes on the heel.
Your first boots are always special to you and these lasted me quite a while, longer than some boots you get these days!
First kit?
My first kit was a Liverpool one, as you’d expect – the one with the pinstripes we had in the late 80s. It was one of my most memorable and I kept it for years.
I also remember winning an Argentina kit in a competition and this was around the time Maradona was working his magic. I think that kit, despite supporting Liverpool, was my favourite.
First professional game?
My first professional game was away at Burnley in 1998. I’d just joined Southend on the Thursday and had one training session before we travelled.
On the Friday we ended up training in a car park! For a player who’d just come from Tottenham, where I started off, you can imagine what that was like.
The game was fantastic, though – I enjoyed every minute of it. It was such a different environment and a much better atmosphere than I was used to at the Under-23 level.
In my youth days I was often younger than the people I was playing with, so I was used to being one of the youngest on the pitch.
First professional goal?
It was against Plymouth, the second goal in a 3-0 win, about a month after I signed for Southend. I didn’t manage to get in the box that often but I found some space and flicked a cross around the keeper – it was a special moment. First red card? It was away at Swansea in 1998 – two or three of us got sent off (in a 3-1 defeat). I was having a particularly bad game and caught someone late right next to the opposing bench. They all jumped up and I was off.