“PEOPLE ASK IF SCORING INSIDE A FULL GROUND IS BETTER THAN PLAYING A LIVE GIG. WELL, I’VE DONE BOTH…”

The shaggy-haired striker remembers fixing Clough’s drinks, scoring Forest’s last European winner and playing sold-out rock shows all around the world

Interview Ed McCambridge

You’re known as a footballer and as a musician. Which was your first love?

Oh, football. I was crazy about it from as early as I can remember – both playing and watching. Like most people, it wasn’t until I got into my teenage years that I started forming my own music tastes, getting into rock and punk and all that sort of thing. It’s funny, as I kind of lived a split personality from that point. I was a bit of a jock at school, because I was a talented footballer and got noticed by some big clubs, but I also hung out with the cool indie kids who were into music. But I joined Nottingham Forest’s youth teams as a kid and it was my sole aim to become a professional footballer from that moment.

Forest were managed by Brian Clough at the time. What did he make of the rocker in the youth teams?

Occasionally we’d pass each other in the corridors and he’d say, “Cut that bloody hair, young man, it’s much too long!” As part of the YTS scheme, we cleaned the senior pros’ boots and I was in charge of Nigel Clough’s. He used to tip me really well – he gave me £400 as a Christmas bonus once. I was earning about £75 a month, to put that into perspective. The first team had some big characters back then – the likes of Roy Keane, Teddy Sheringham and Stuart Pearce – so you had to be thick-skinned with the banter if you ever got invited to train with them. It was a different time, but they were unbelievable players and I was pinching myself to get to do that as a job while mates of mine were leaving school and going to work.