MY FOOTBALL
JOHNNY VAUGHAN
The TV and radio presenter discusses referee vendettas, coating off Lionel Messi and letting Rafa Benitez look after his children
What was the first game you ever attended?
Chelsea against Blackpool in 1971 when I was five. I went with my friend Phil and his older brother, who was about 15 or 16 and was looking after us for the day – when we got back, our parents went mad because we’d gone to Chelsea. I don’t remember seeing any football, but I do remember seeing the pitch. He took us to The Shed End and I remember the feeling of just being surrounded by so many people and so much noise.
Do you have a matchday routine?
I used to link results with my happiness and it affects your mood for days. You live for it and take it personally. You start searching the Yellow Pages to get the personal numbers of referees. I did that for referee Gary Willard because he played seven minutes of injury time against Sheffield Wednesday. I tried to find his number to call him up. Then you realise there’s no room for that in your life. I used to close my radio show by saying, ‘Don’t let the football ruin a day at the football’ and I live by that. I now meet up with the friends I’m going to the game with and avoid other fans. We go to a pub in a little mews street where the Great Train Robbery was planned, then get Lime bikes to the ground.