Andy Frampton. Chapter 6

“You have to be a certain type of professional to be around this football club. You find out very quickly about people, because of the nature of our training sessions. They’re full on. You get to know the ones who will pull their weight, who won’t sulk, moan, or drop their head. They see what they have to do to be accepted. It is not something we talk about. The strongest rules are never written down. Everyone just knows. Somehow or other there is a connection between us. We have had players here who haven’t quite fitted into the group. I’m not saying they’re bad players. It is just that there are certain types we’d like to be in a team with. They’re the ones who are ready to fight for you.”

Neil Harris, Chapter 5

“I say to every new player ‘if you fall below what the fans expect from you, you will dig your own grave.’ Our fans graft from day to day, and they come here with every penny they’ve earned, legally or illegally. If they spend their money on a luxury like football, you have to give them what they want, everything you have. They see you as one of them, and have a huge respect for loyalty. Fully grown men come up to me, call me a legend, and say ‘I’d do anything to be you’. I laugh, and thank them. Why would I want to be anyone else? We look after our own at Millwall.”

Paul Robinson, Chapter 21

“We’re playing for the people who hate their jobs, who’d love our lives. Let’s give them something special.”

Kenny Jackett, Chapter 10

“Management is not as easy as it looks on the telly. If a player at the top level has a bad game, he has the intrinsic confidence to know he has only to wait a week to put things right. If things don’t go well at a lower level, players start to clutch at straws. They’re balls out. They want to do well, and when it does not, they worry about what comes next. There is a time to bollock them, but if you hammer the life out of people you’d better not do it too often. They’ve a habit of turning around and saying ‘fuck you’”

David Forde Chapter 6

“As a goalkeeper it’s important to have organisational skills. You have to motivate, breed confidence. It’s important to have that understanding with your back four. If we are having a bad time, or being sloppy, it is up to me to be focussed. All good sides have that core, leaders who replenish that hunger to be the best. Football always finds you out, sooner or later. That’s the great thing about it. It all comes down to looking after your family. You win, you get the bonus. If you see someone threatening that, by not putting it in, you have a word. If they don’t listen you make sure they’re shipped out, and replaced by someone who will put it in.”

Darren Ward Chapter 17

“The food bill was more than the mortgage. We were no poverty case, but Dad worked all hours for us. I’m no different to most sons. I try to model myself on my Dad. He’s my hero. You have got to make things happen in life. That is what I am doing. I know a lot of people in the lower leagues and it is tough. It is a different game. This is 110 miles an hour, and you don’t get lot of football, unless you are winning.”