football firsts
Luke Varney - The Cheltenham striker talks us through his football memories...
First game you watched live?
It was Leicester City versus Manchester City back at Filbert Street. Luckily when I was at Leicester you got to be a ball boy and that was the first match I went to.
I lived just five miles away from the ground as I was born in Leicester, so it was a dream.
Uwe Rösler was doing shooting practice and I went in goal for a few penalties. I didn’t save many though! We got beat but it was massive eye-opener for me. I really got the bug for football after that!
First football hero?
Ian Wright. He came from a similar football upbringing as me as he played in NonLeague and went on to play at the highest level.
I ended up following Arsenal because of him as well. He was also a striker and played for England.
First football boots?
I always had Adidas Predators and I had blond streaks in my hair like David Beckham as well. I used to think I was like him when I started!
When I look back at some of my pictures playing for Quorn, they were my first pair of boots. I wore Preds even when I started playing for Charlton.
I wore them for a good five or six years until I ended up getting a deal with Nike.
First kit?
It was probably a blue Leicester kit with Walkers Crisps on the front. I must have been nine or 10 at the time.
Once I started playing, they were the team that I supported.
First professional game?
I honestly never thought I would play in the Football League having been at Quorn, so it was a dream come true when I did.
I made my debut for Crewe at Selhurst Park in 2003 and
I got my first goal there as well a few months later. I came off the bench and we lost 3-1 to Wimbledon, back when they were sharing there with Crystal Palace.
I was at Quorn for three years, so I was playing men’s football at a really young age which really helped me.
First professional goal?
Back at Selhurst Park, I scored 15 minutes into my first start against Palace. I will never forget it as I slid on my knees to celebrate in front of the main stand.
Dario Gradi went mad at me saying ‘Don’t do that again, celebrate with our fans!’. I said ‘I thought they were’ and he just looked at me.
It was a good goal as well. Kenny Lunt slid me through from about the halfway line, I waited for the keeper to go down and dinked it over him so I was really pleased with that one.
First red card?
That was against Hull when I was at Portsmouth in 2011.
I took a big touch and I was committed to the tackle.
James Chester is not shy of a tackle, so I thought ‘I have got to go in for this’ but I mistimed it. I put it down to being a striker’s tackle.
I used to get a good deal of bookings but had not got a red before that so I was a bit gutted to be honest.