Footballer Quotes

Even as a footballer, I was always being creative.

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?'

Would I swap what I have achieved as a cook if I could have been as successful as a footballer? Definitely.

Beckham is unusual. He was desperate to be a footballer. His mind was made up when he was nine or ten. Many kids think that it's beyond them. But you can't succeed without practising at any sport.

There would be no debate about who was the best footballer the world had ever seen - me or Pele. Everyone would say me.

You're obviously conscious of being brash or big-headed but I always knew I was going to be a footballer when I was seven or eight. I didn't just think I wanted to be one, I knew I was going to be one. Nothing ever surprised me really.

We had to be down early to get the best stuff for the pros we looked after and then get the rags that we were left ourselves for training. It seems very old school but it grounded me as a person and made me appreciate everything as a footballer, because all we got was a pair of boots.

I'm actually about as famous as a fourth division footballer from the 70s.

I'm a footballer, that's my job and that's all I want to be known for.

Celebrity culture, it's everywhere, isn't it? It's reality TV, Big Brother. I didn't become a footballer to be famous, I became a footballer to be successful. I didn't want to be famous. Now people want to be famous. Why? Why would you want people following you about all day?

I want to work with kids and help develop them, show them the right way, the right morals and attitude into how to become a better footballer. Australia has many different cultures but I'd like to bring in the indigenous style, bring their competitiveness, athleticism and raw ability into the frame.

Pulling on your country's shirt is the greatest honour a footballer can have. It's what I always dreamed of as a kid and I get a buzz every time.

A Kerry footballer with an inferiority complex is one who thinks he's just as good as everybody else.

I feel very strong as an individual, but as a famous footballer I know I am prone to certain things. All the media have a continuous interest for me. It varies from once a year to every day interest.

I wouldn't want to go out six nights a week and watch somebody's reserves playing to check out a footballer to see if we're going to buy him.

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

Ryan Giggs will go down as the most successful British footballer of all time and I cannot see anyone ever overtaking him. He's on the brink of his 13th league title, after all.

There is pressure every day as a footballer.

As a footballer I can't imagine life without the use of one of my legs... Sadly this is exactly what happens to thousands of children every year when they accidentally step on a landmine.

I take compliments and I take constructive criticism. Not everyone loves you. It's the way you react as a footballer. I use it all to make me play better.

The lifestyle I lead as a footballer means I am always in the spotlight.

I've never fancied that footballer lifestyle. I suppose I could live that kind of flash life. People stereotype child actors and kind of expect you to go off the rails a bit, be a bit crazy, but that's not really happened yet. I've got a big family so that helps, and they live really close to the studios so it's just so much easier.

I am going to continue and bring this club forward. I am Paul Gascoigne the footballer.

When I was a child, it was my dream to be a professional footballer. When I was 14 I visited Milan's San Siro stadium and remember thinking how unbelievable it was. From then onwards I vowed that one day I would be playing there - and I am very proud that I achieved this and also for everything else I have managed to achieve in football.

As a private person I think I am now totally different from Ruud van Nistelrooy the footballer.

Money is not a motivating factor. Money doesn't thrill me or make me play better because there are benefits to being wealthy. I'm just happy with a ball at my feet. My motivation comes from playing the game I love. If I wasn't paid to be a professional footballer I would willingly play for nothing.