CRAIG JOHNSTON

I've been ignored for 20 years but now it's heartening to get some recognition.

Now Jack Charlton wasn't wrong, I was a bad footballer.

So for a year I spent all my time hiding from Jack Charlton in the car park practising my skills.

You know, I was crap. But I had the commitment, and I had the understanding, that the basis of football is skill on the ball, and if you spend the time with it, you're gonna reap the rewards.

And I think they loved me because I loved being part of their team, you know, and I quite often say to kids, that I was the worst player in the world's best football team - and that was good enough for me.

The main thing I do now is I coach kids, and all of these stories along the way are based in reality.

I've always had an inquisitive mind about everything from flowers to television sets to motor cars. Always pulled them apart - couldn't put 'em back, but always extremely interested in how things work.

So I did in fact spend two and a half years in the Middlesbrough car park practising skills. But if you spend four or five or six hours a day practising, you get better.

Our football program is bigger than any one person.

It used to be standard practice that the pre-match meal consisted of egg, steak and chicken. But I talked them into changing to complex carbohydrates. So now they will sup on porridge, pasta or rice.

And I think they loved me because I loved being part of their team, you know, and I quite often say to kids, that I was the worst player in the world's best football team - and that was good enough for me.

I've always had an inquisitive mind about everything from flowers to television sets to motor cars. Always pulled them apart - couldn't put 'em back, but always extremely interested in how things work.

Our football program is bigger than any one person.

The main thing I do now is I coach kids, and all of these stories along the way are based in reality.

Now Jack Charlton wasn't wrong, I was a bad footballer.

So I did in fact spend two and a half years in the Middlesbrough car park practising skills. But if you spend four or five or six hours a day practising, you get better.

So for a year I spent all my time hiding from Jack Charlton in the car park practising my skills.

You know, I was crap. But I had the commitment, and I had the understanding, that the basis of football is skill on the ball, and if you spend the time with it, you're gonna reap the rewards.

We were having a trial game against Leeds, and Jack Charlton was the boss of Middlesbrough at the time.

OK, the wonderful thing about soccer is, a football is a perfectly round object, and it doesn't make mistakes. The player using it makes mistakes. And the more you use it, the less mistakes you make.

It used to be standard practice that the pre-match meal consisted of egg, steak and chicken. But I talked them into changing to complex carbohydrates. So now they will sup on porridge, pasta or rice.

I've been ignored for 20 years but now it's heartening to get some recognition.