I had an early taste of fame. I was 20, going out with TV presenter Dani Behr and we'd have paparazzi chasing us. I'm not comfortable being photographed, though I accept it is part of the job. I had to ask myself, 'What comes first, being a celebrity or footballer?

I like to let my football do the talking, I'm respectful of other good teams such as Arsenal.

I am proud of my black roots and of the black blood that runs in my veins.

I'm not comfortable being photographed, though I accept it is part of the job.

He was a professional rugby player in the area that I played as a youngster. So a lot of people who I went to school with knew who he was and knew that he was black. So I would get racist taunts in school.

When Cristiano Ronaldo gets the ball, you can just leave him to it while he beats player after player.

Where I grew up, people obviously knew my dad because it's a small place and he was the top player for Swinton - they'd go and watch him play, see him in the papers, so they knew he was black.