Ex-WBA and Nottingham Forest striker Ishmael Miller talks us through his football memories
First match? When I was younger, I didn’t really watch many games, but the first one I can remember is Manchester City against Arsenal at Maine Road (in February 2003). Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp were up front and I think they won 5-1. It was the first time I’d ever seen Henry live and it’s the first game I can remember as a kid. I didn’t really get into football until I was about 11. When I moved from South Manchester to North Manchester, that’s when I started playing. I went to City at 11 and that’s when I started to really get into it. It was Henry and the Brazilian Ronaldo who really caught my eye! First hero? Ronaldo, in the 1998 World Cup when he had the blue and silver Nike boots. He was just unbelievable then. He was the best I’ve ever seen by a long way. He did things no other player could do. First boots? They might have been Adidas World Cup or I might’ve had one of the original versions of the R9s first. Not the full-price version, but the cheaper ones, the knock-off ones! I’m not sure if they were the first pair I had but they stick in my mind. They were like the £20 version of the £100 ones! First kit? I think it might have been the France 1998 shirt, the Adidas one. Worn by Manu Petit and Lilian Thuram and all those guys when they won the World Cup. Not a bad first kit to have really, is it? First game? Against Wigan (in March 2006). Stuart Pearce gave me my debut and they won 1-0. Lee McCulloch scored and I came on in the second half at the Etihad. I played on the left wing but we lost. There wasn’t much time for me to have an impact on the game. I’d just turned 19 and it was an amazing time because I was playing for the reserves when it was actually a proper reserve team. I was doing really well in the reserve league, and a lot of my age group and my friends were all breaking through together. Micah Richards had already made it through properly. Then Nedum Onuoha, and I was the next one. It was unbelievable, really. I’m a Manchester lad as well, so those were good times. I remember Micah swearing on TV after he’d scored against Villa (in February 2006) – a brilliant moment! First goal? My debut goal for West Brom when I was on loan from City. Tony Mowbray took me there and I got a debut goal against Preston (in August 2007). It was a good goal as well. I played up top. I’d just gone there and I’d come on for Kevin Phillips, I think, playing alongside Craig Beattie up front. First red card? I’ve only ever had one and that was against Sheffield Wednesday in December 2014. I was at Blackpool at the time. It was a stupid one at that, as well! It was late in the game. We were losing 1-0 and I was frustrated. I was just trying to chase the ball and went in for the tackle. It was one of those ones where I was never going to get the ball. It was purely out of frustration, more than anything else.