When people talk about lower league football, you could be instantly forgiven for thinking of the depths of the English non-league, that so often dominate the cliched dream of a club starting from a lowly level before working their way up. Very few people spare a thought for the lower leagues in Spain, for instance.
My parents were very spontaneous people and highly career driven. I was (and still am) an only child. I rarely spent a second in the house, as I was always outside playing football with my friends, seeing as I had no siblings to occupy myself with. I was born in Leeds, but we moved around a lot and by the time we finally settled somewhere, I was 11 and in my eighth house.
We settled in Spain, in a beautiful coastal town known as Torrevieja. It is situated on the Costa Blanca, half an hour south of Alicante. We holidayed there and my parents fell in love with the place. So we moved in and Mum and Dad were set up with jobs as soon as we got there. I was sent to a Spanish school on the edge of town, where my passion for the beautiful game blossomed.
Being at a Spanish school, I was blessed to be playing football with the Spanish kids and I learned how to play a new Continental style of football. At the age of 13, I went along to football trials at the local football club, then known as Futbol Club Torrevieja in 1999.
I made my debut for the club aged 17 in 2003. By this time, the club had received a large following from a group of British expat fans, who set up a supporters club known as the Torry Army. It was mostly these expats that took to me and they made me a cult figure as the only English player in the team.
I played for Torrevieja for six enjoyable years before the call home came in 2009. I was snapped up by Notts County in League Two. I played a season there before signing for Scunthorpe- then in the Championship- in 2010. The club went down, but I stayed up having secured a transfer to recently relegated Blackpool. I played three tough albeit enjoyable seasons at Bloomfield Road before an ACL injury forced me into an early retirement, aged 29.
I went back to Spain, taking up a job as an accountant for my dad's law firm. I used the wages to fund my C and B Licence courses with the Spanish FA. I wanted to try and get a coaching role with Torry, but I ended up with more than I bargained for...
My parents were very spontaneous people and highly career driven. I was (and still am) an only child. I rarely spent a second in the house, as I was always outside playing football with my friends, seeing as I had no siblings to occupy myself with. I was born in Leeds, but we moved around a lot and by the time we finally settled somewhere, I was 11 and in my eighth house.
We settled in Spain, in a beautiful coastal town known as Torrevieja. It is situated on the Costa Blanca, half an hour south of Alicante. We holidayed there and my parents fell in love with the place. So we moved in and Mum and Dad were set up with jobs as soon as we got there. I was sent to a Spanish school on the edge of town, where my passion for the beautiful game blossomed.
Being at a Spanish school, I was blessed to be playing football with the Spanish kids and I learned how to play a new Continental style of football. At the age of 13, I went along to football trials at the local football club, then known as Futbol Club Torrevieja in 1999.
I made my debut for the club aged 17 in 2003. By this time, the club had received a large following from a group of British expat fans, who set up a supporters club known as the Torry Army. It was mostly these expats that took to me and they made me a cult figure as the only English player in the team.
I played for Torrevieja for six enjoyable years before the call home came in 2009. I was snapped up by Notts County in League Two. I played a season there before signing for Scunthorpe- then in the Championship- in 2010. The club went down, but I stayed up having secured a transfer to recently relegated Blackpool. I played three tough albeit enjoyable seasons at Bloomfield Road before an ACL injury forced me into an early retirement, aged 29.
I went back to Spain, taking up a job as an accountant for my dad's law firm. I used the wages to fund my C and B Licence courses with the Spanish FA. I wanted to try and get a coaching role with Torry, but I ended up with more than I bargained for...
