As the son of a footballer, did you have any particular heroes or memories that those of us watching from the terraces didn't experience?
Well, yes, I was lucky in that respect with my dad being at West Ham, my hero was the striker Frank McAvennie who had an amazing goal scoring partnership with Tony Cottee. Tony was more of a family man, more down to earth, but Frank was larger than life. So I'd beg my dad to let me watch the team run out from the side of the tunnel, which might not seem that big a deal but as a child it was. Being there I got to see what Frank was like on the pitch and then going behind the scenes I was able to see what he was like there and with the models hanging round him and everything, that was a very clear insight into both sides of football, the game and the distractions. That was a good time for West Ham, it was past the era of Brooking and Devonshire, I never saw Alan Devonshire but my dad says he was a great player who was probably a bit under-rated, should have played for England more.

When was the first time you knew you had made it? Was there a game early on where you felt that?
To be honest I never had that, not at a school level, not with the other teams I played for, not even with the youth team at West Ham or even when I'd broken into the first team. I didn't truly think I'd made it to where I wanted to be until I signed for Chelsea.

In terms of challenges in your life do you ever look at the opposition and think, 'Oh no, I've got to play against him'?
No, I never get the opposition team sheet and worry about who's in the line-up, if they've got great players then you know it's a challenge.  know my own abilities and limitations and I know who stands where in football. But in terms of individuals no, nobody that I'm afraid of playing against. In terms of tough situations going to Barcelona away in need of a result, that's a challenge.

Do you think the standard of opposition is better in the Champions League than when you play for England?
No, but there's definitely a difference. With the Champions League you'll know who you are playing against and they'll have their key players, everyone knows about them whereas when you play for England against someone from somewhere like Eastern Europe, Croatia, or somewhere like that, they're all good. And you discover that as the games going on, there's not a lot of weaknesses in the international teams so I'd say the standard is definitely higher.

You said you had a pretty down-to-earth life. How many cars have you got?
Two. A Range Rover and a Ferrari. Ha ha ha. I'd never driven a Ferrari, and I always said I never would. But I saw one, and then I fell in love with it. I never had like five or six cars. I've got a Range Rover because I've got a baby and a dog. I've got a Ferrari because I like it, it's bit of fun.

Who's the joker in the Chelsea team?
John Terry, and we've got a masseur, he's a total  lunatic, he's the butt of all jokes on the bus. If you're talking ridiculous high jinks like school kids going into each other's rooms to turn the beds over, we don't do that so much any more. Just fights in the massage room with cream, we just smash cream over one another - it's really good fun when you're in it. It's a stupid thing though. Ha ha, I guess just doing the hotel rooms.

Are you aware when people get resentful of your success?
Yeah. It goes with the territory. I hate it. It is something that's there though. I don't know if it's human nature but it shouldn't be human nature. Sometimes I think, especially with the way the football world is, with people writing about the money, and how we live, and the WAGS and all that shit, people paint a picture of us, rather than just seeing the bloke behind it all. I'm not saying that I'm the best bloke in the world, but if anyone met me they would see that I'm a decent geezer, I'll always be prepared to say hello. I understand all the resentment from opposing fans, maybe someone in the street or from a radio phone-in. I don't listen to those phone-ins but I think some players do. I did when I was younger, then after a while you realise it doesn't actually matter at all.

 

This article appeared in the February 2011 issue of Australian FourFourTwo magazine. To buy back copies of this issue call 03-8317-8121 with a credit card to hand.