BigTips Betting News
Question and answer with Ben Herd
Ask Herdy
Q1 - How difficult was it relocating to Shrewsbury from down South?
Well, I had been told in the February of 2005 by Ray Lewington, my boss at Watford, that I was being released because the Chairman was cutting his wage budget. Lewington did say to me that he wanted to offer me another year but because I hadn't played, the Chairman wouldn't let him. To be honest, I had played over 80 odd reserve games in the Reserve Premier League and felt that I was ready to play in someone’s first team. I was only 19 and wanted a career in the game and was prepared to go anywhere. When I did make the move to Shrewsbury, I have to be honest and say I did find it tough for the first few months. Shrewsbury is a beautiful place to live and the people are the nicest you could meet, but I did miss my family and friends an awful lot. After the initial first few months, I absolutely loved it and only came back down to London on rare occasions - I still have very fond memories of Salop and made some very good friends.
Q 2 - During your time at Shrewsbury, who was the most naturally gifted footballer In your opinion (other than yourself!)?
I did have the privilege of playing with Joe Hart and Dave Edwards, both of whom went on to play international football and I still consider them good mates, but the most naturally gifted player would have to be Ben Smith. "Smudge" was at the club when I first arrived at Shrewsbury, although not blessed with any pace, he had great vision and touch. It is fair to say he wasn't a Gary Peters type of player, a shame really because we could have done with his guile and craft.
Q 3 – Do you keep in contact with many of your old team mates?
I think that I have been very lucky because, a lot of the lads signed by Gary Peters were top boys and I still speak quite regularly to them. As I mentioned before, Dave and Joe, but I also keep in touch with Kelv, Hibbo, Cadders, Ben Smith, Omer, Glyn Garner, Pughy and even the ginger pikey Gav Cowan.
Q 4 - You seem to have a wide range of football contacts writing for both Bigtips.co.uk and BetFair. Who would be your dream player to interview in the football world?
Well it wouldn't be any League 2 players because they take ages to return your calls! It would have to be a bit of a legend like Pele or Maradona. I would also like to ask Michel Platini why he hates English football so much!
Q 5 - You have a long career left ahead of you, but have you started thinking yet about what you'll do at the end of it? Do you intend to stay in the game?
I wouldn’t mind, but as I get older I do find myself thinking more about the game from a coach or manager’s point of view. However, I if I wasn’t to stay involved in the game, then I want to become a City trader. I recently spent the afternoon down at the LME, London Metal Exchange, with a trader friend of mine and I absolutely loved it! The trader friend also said that he may be able to get me a job down there, but I think I'll give football a bit more time as I am only 24.
Finally, I’d better give my Last Man Standing entry, after flying through the first round I’m going to nail my colours to the mast of Man Utd this weekend - along with probably half the entrants!
Posted: Friday, February 5th, 2010 @ 11:02 am by Ben Herd
Other recent news
-
Bigtips.co.uk European Championships Preview - Group A - Part 1
Welcome to the bigtips.co.uk preview of the European Championships, which start in three weeks on Friday 8th June. We’ll be giving you a rundown of the teams, group by group, starting... read more
-
Bigtips.co.uk Football Review – Mon 14th May
Man City 3 QPR 2Sunderland 0 Man Utd 1One of the greatest weekend’s of football ever saw Man City clinch the Premier League in the most dramatic fashion possible. It was Man Utd who dealt the first... read more
-
Bigtips.co.uk Football Preview – Friday 11th May
Man City v QPRThe final afternoon of Premier League football on Sunday and the title is still at stake and there are relegation and Champions League issues also on the table. The biggest game of... read more