football firsts

Former Burton Albion midfielder John McGrath talks us through his football memories

First match?

My dad took me to the old Lansdowne Road to see Ireland against Spain in a World Cup qualifier when I was 10. It was during qualification for Italia 90 and Ireland won 1-0!

That was my first real taste of live football and I remember the train journey up to Dublin from Limerick, where we lived, walking to the ground, my Dad buying me a scarf and the electric atmosphere.

First hero?

It was Diego Maradona just because it was the first kit I ever owned and I wore it day and night.

I was already a fan before I got the kit but the things he did with a football and what he did at the World Cup in 1986 was just amazing.

I was left-footed like him too, so when I was in the back garden I was always Maradona – then as I got older it became Ryan Giggs.

First kit?

My uncle Jimmy bought me the Argentina kit – it was the light blue Adidas 1990 World Cup kit and I didn’t take it off.

He then got me a 1992 Ruud Gullit Netherlands jersey and was a massive supporter of me wanting to be a footballer.

My mum has got everything of mine boxed up, so those kits are still somewhere over in Ireland. I’ve done the same with my son now.

First boots?

They were the old school Adidas Copa Mundials – they were beautiful and you can get nice ones again of these. It’s funny, I’ve gone full circle and I wear them once more. As I progressed through my career, I moved onto the Adidas Predators.

First game?

I made my debut in the Premier League for Aston Villa on

New Year’s Day 2001 against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

I remember it well. It was my first Christmas away from home and my dad came to the game – he flew over and stayed in London without me knowing.

I came off the bench as a left wingback and we lost

1-0 but that game will always be in the history books.

First goal?

I scored a couple on loan from Villa at Dagenham & Redbridge in the Conference and for Tamworth a few years later but my first Football League goal was for Burton Albion.

It wasn’t until the 2009/10 season – which was Burton’s first year in League Two – and I scored in a 5-2 win over Morecambe.

Not many people know this but I got pneumonia in my mid-20s and I was told I would never play football again.

I lost four stone and things got really bad, so to come back and get my first goal meant so much to me.

First red card?

It was the last game of the season for Kidderminster against Northampton Town in 2005 and we’d just been relegated to Non-League a week before.

It was for a mistimed tackle but I thought it was a bit harsh – we were a goal down at the time, went on to lose 3-0 and I ended up missing the first three games of the next season, so it was a very frustrating situation.

I was a bit sneaky as a player though and I tended to get away with stuff behind the ref’s back, but as I got older and slowed down I think it started to catch up with me!