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come true. We played at Brighton on a damp Wednesday night and when I put that England shirt on I felt like I’d grown another six inches. It was
Roy
of the Rovers stuff. I had my first
England
cap complete with tassel.
    We were drawing 2-2 with ten minutes to go. I’d scored two and then we were awarded a penalty. Billy Wright, our manager and of course, former
England
captain, yelled across to me: “Neil, you take it.” I could hardly put the ball on the spot, I was shaking like a leaf. I remember thinking: “If I score I’ll be a hero and if I miss nobody will remember the two I did score.” It was in the lap of the gods. Well, God was on my side that night, as I sent the goalkeeper the wrong way. All the players dived on top of me. It felt absolutely incredible. Unbelievable.
    The lad from the back streets of Fallowfield had just won a game for
England
. I wanted to wear my cap on the train journey home. I didn’t though! The Manchester Evening News heaped praise on me. It was another feather in my cap, another boost to my confidence. Soon after that I found myself moving from the youth team to the reserves and then into the first team in a relatively short period of time.
    It wasn’t too hard to adapt as far as I was concerned though, the higher the grade you played, the slower the football seemed to be. Often in youth matches you’ll get a few people charging about aimlessly but further up you have to keep the ball and use it better.
    Like I said, until I made my first team debut I wasn’t allowed to enter the first team dressing room unless invited. Every Monday we had to clean the boots and each player had a number and the boots were put on numbered shelves. We’d have until
12 noon
to get them clean. Lawrie Barnett was the man who would inspect the boots. If they hadn’t been done right, there would be an inquest. It was strict but you had lots of fun.
    The attitude of the first teamers to most of the apprentices was at best, indifferent and at worst, ignorant. Nevertheless I believe I had a bit of a rapport with some of them because they asked me to play in the odd five-a-side in the reserves and I started to speak to some of the first team professionals. Overall though, they tended to keep their distance from the younger lads, there was a bit of ‘us and them’ about the place.
    We played five-a-sides and head tennis in the gym below the main stand. This was the gym where I practised my skills over and over and over again. We even used to play and train in the old car park behind the Platt Lane End, which again helped develop my ball control. You have to be able to get it under control quickly because on that particular surface it can just bobble away.
    So by the age of sixteen I was a regular in the reserve team and felt that I was making a name for myself. Often I’d play alongside players such as Johnny Hart, Bill Leivers , Cliff Sear, George Hannah, Ken Barnes… truly great players for me to learn my trade from. Players of real stature and standing in the game.
    In the reserves you might come up against players coming to the end of their careers. Well-known, experienced full-backs who I’d be roasting in away reserve team matches. They’d be giving me a right earful because they’d be embarrassed at me skinning them on their own pitch.
    I’d hear shouts of “Beat me again like that son and I’ll break your legs!” They’d try and scare you but that is part of growing up in the game. It’s all a learning curve.
    We’d have games in training, the first team versus the reserves and I used to love them because it gave me the chance to shine, to beat players and score a lot of goals. The manager Les McDowall used to pull me to one side and encourage me: “Keep playing like that and you’ll soon be in the first team.” So with the manager and coaches’ encouragement I felt I was nearly there – a first team place didn’t seem so far away.
    *

    Of course football produces its