football firsts
Former Charlton and Colchester striker Kevin Lisbie talks us through his football memories
First match? When I was younger, I used to watch Leyton Orient play, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you who they played against. It was around 25 years ago. I was in the academy at Charlton Athletic at the time. I remember watching them and thinking they were doing something they love. I had a lot of respect for everyone out there. It was certainly inspirational for me and it gave me the drive I needed to be successful. It was a case of either watching Leyton Orient or Arsenal and, as tickets for Arsenal were expensive, I chose Orient. First hero? It’s between Ian Wright and John Barnes, but I’ll go for Barnes. I’m Jamaican and he is from Jamaica, so I watched him all the time. Everything he had to go through to succeed, what with all the racial abuse he received, makes it an incredible achievement. He came through that, and the way he played football was amazing. First boots? They were a pair of Lotto boots. They had these big old studs on them. They were all my mother could afford, so that’s what I used and I wore them all year round. I will never forget those boots. Whatever the match was, I played in those boots. I was just fortunate to have any pair of boots, I guess. But I scored plenty of goals with them, so they couldn’t have been that bad! First kit? I don’t think I owned a kit when I was younger. I was never into any of that. I think the first kit I bought was an Arsenal one. It was a yellow and black kit and I would have been around 20. I wasn’t very interested in it, to be honest. I’d just wear a black shirt and black shorts if I wanted to play football. We couldn’t really afford football kits when I was younger, anyway. I was just happy with anything I got. First game? It was against Burnley in the League Cup in 1996. I can’t remember it too well, to be honest. It’s one of those that goes in a flash, but I think we won the match. When you’re really young, you just want to get out there and play football. Every opportunity I got was fantastic. There was nothing better than putting on that Charlton shirt. First goal? Funnily enough, we were talking about this when I went back to The Valley recently and it was away at Reading for Charlton (in January 1997). It’s amazing to look back now and appreciate the fans who chanted your name. You’ve worked so hard to get into the first team and you just want to score a goal to get yourself up and running. Thankfully, it didn’t take too long to get one. First red card? Funnily enough, it was against Charlton (in April 2010)! I was playing for Colchester United. It was the only red card of my career, actually. It was a League One match. It was for two yellow cards and I picked up the second one right at the end. I went head to head with Nicky Bailey. So, I got a second yellow and it had to be at The Valley of all places!