Doncaster Rovers striker John Marquis talks us through his football memories

First game you watched live? It must have been a Crystal Palace game. When I was younger, I went to a lot of local games and the fixture that always stood out was Wimbledon at Selhurst Park. They ground-shared for a while. I didn’t really support any one team, so I went with either my mum or my friends to Palace, Millwall and Charlton – any local games. I just used to like watching football. First football hero? I idolised Alan Shearer growing up. I was a striker and I liked watching him play. He was massive for Newcastle and he scored some great goals. I looked at him and thought he was the player I wanted to be. He was a hardworking centre-forward. He scored a lot of goals and that’s what I modelled my game on. It naturally helped with the way I play as I have a similar type of physique. First football boots? The first brand new boots I had was a pair of shiny silver Pumas. I think Robert Pires had them at the time. It must have been late 90s or early 00s and they were bought for me by my mum. Before that, I had hand-me-down red Puma Kings

that Martin Keown wore. I think it was just a friend of the family who gave them to me, but I thought they were nice and didn’t look back. First kit? I remember the England Euro 1996 kit, the grey one which had Alan Shearer on the back. I was only four or five at the time, but I remember seeing pictures of me in that shirt. I bought the video of the tournament and I watched it for years, a couple of hours in an afternoon. The game in which we beat Holland 4-1 and then lost to Germany – those are my first clear football memories. First professional goal? It was against Norwich City. It was my first start for Millwall and we were losing 1-0, but I scored a 90th-minute equaliser, which was a nice feeling! It was my first start at home as well. It was a tapin from about a foot out from a corner and I was on the keeper. I couldn’t miss really, but it’s a nice memory. It was just all quite surreal. I didn’t really know what to do afterwards. I wheeled away with my hands in the air. First red card? I’ve only had one. It was when I was on loan at Leyton Orient last year and I got two yellow cards against AFC Wimbledon. The first was a bit harsh and the second was, too. The first yellow I remember was a block tackle, a 50-50 ball and nobody appealed for a foul, but I got booked. The manager was Ian Hendon and we were 1-0 up but ended up drawing. The manager was disappointed, of course, but he knew it was harsh as well.