Mothers and partners provide the foundations of the game, but their dedication often goes unrecognised
When I started training with West Brom as a youngster, my family did not have enough money for a car. We lived in Coventry and training was in Tipton, near Birmingham. Mobile phones were only just starting to become popular and my mum bought me one.
Every day I would get two buses from school to the railway station and then get on the train; my mum would ring to speak to the conductor, making sure I would stick right with him and not be travelling on my own. It would be the same on the way back, at 9.30pm. We had very little but she always found ways to ensure I could make the most of myself.
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