37 Quotes by Jonjo Shelvey

Where I grew up, in Harold Hill, it was rough and it still is now. I used to live in a little council flat, next to the shops, and there was always trouble, people getting stabbed.

It doesn't matter who you play against in midfield, you need to try to come out on top and more often than not when a team wins a midfield battle they normally have a good chance of winning the game because that's where a lot of the play goes through.

It was unusual to see a bald nine-year-old so I would play football in hats.

I've always known I could play football. I went to Arsenal and West Ham as a kid, but I took a year out because I wanted to play with my mates and get that competitiveness back. I got that fighting spirit and I never want to lose that.

I had a year out playing local football before I went to Charlton at 12. West Ham was the club I supported so it was a hard decision to leave.

Don't get me wrong, by the time I finish I will have had a fantastic career. But you do sit there sometimes and think, 'could I have gone higher? Could I have been playing in the Champions League?'

I wasn't happy playing one or two games then coming out of the team. I wanted to carry on playing week in, week out.

When you're playing once and then not playing for six games, I don't care what any footballer says, you don't feel involved. You don't feel part of the team.

Every decision I've made in my career was just to play, to try and get as much game-time as possible. I can't say I've got too many regrets.