Copy linkFacebookXPinterestEmailShare this article 0Join the conversationFollow usAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleNewsletterSubscribe to our newsletterLong before Tony Cascarino was a Republic of Ireland international playing in successive World Cups, he was a promising youngster balancing life on the training ground with that on building sites and hairdressing salons.Cascarinos career would see him take in stints at Chelsea and Marseille, but at the age of 18 he was drifting away from the game.But a host of chance encounters, lucky breaks and one crunching tackle would go on to change his life forever.Tony Cascarino on his big breakCascarino was 19 years old when he was given the chance to sign for Gillingham in 1982, with the forward admitting that he had thought hed missed his chance to play professionally.Definitely, he admits to FourFourTwo. Id even stopped playing for a football club for three years. From 16 to 18 I was working both as a hairdresser and also with my dad on building sites. I worked all day every Saturday, and then Id play football on the Sunday for teams that I wasnt even registered for. You may like "Jack Charlton used to tell us off for drinking Coke. He said we should drink beer because it would help us sleep better" Tony Cascarino on being part of Irelands 1990 and 1994 World Cup journey At West Ham, I told Slaven Bilic Ill never play at right-back! Mark Noble argued with me, so I stormed off and got a taxi home Michail Antonio on his shifting roles at West Ham I sat on the bench for two months, so someone tweeted a picture of me to David Gold saying 'Missing person' and he retweeted. It was hilarious Michail Antonio on a curious incident from his early West Ham days A local friend of my dads at non-league Crockenhill eventually said I should trial for them. I went as a centre-half, did OK, and the manager said I could train with them. One match, our striker had broken his leg and the manager asked if I could do a job up top. I gave it a go and scored a hat-trick away at Erith & Belvedere in the Kent league.The circumstances of his move to Gillingham were also a case of the now 63-year-old making the most of an unlikely opportunity.Get FourFourTwo NewsletterThe best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.Our sponge man at Crockenhill was the brother-in-law of Keith Peacock, then manager of Gillingham, Cascarino continues. Keith agreed to come and watch me play against Chatham Town in the Medway. I didnt play great, but he asked me to come on trial for Gillingham reserves against the first team.I went there with my boots in a plastic bag, literally off the building site. I laugh now because the centre-half at Gillingham at the time was Steve Bruce. There was one incident that made Keith think there was something there. It was a cross that came in from the right. Me and Brucie went up for it, and I clattered him and got my head on it the keeper made a great save. That was enough for Keith to offer me a one-year contract, just to see.Six weeks after that, I signed a three-year deal. Id gotten into the first team, and after three or four weeks of a lot of hard training, I was a completely different player. I was athletic, I could get around the pitch, I had a good leap. Id gone from �100 a week to �205 and also got paid a �6,000 signing-on fee. I took the money out of the bank and laid it out on the carpet floor of my mum and dads house. I was just so proud of what I had achieved.Cascarino would then score on his home debut, netting the final goal in a thrashing of Wimbledon, another occasion when the future Ireland star took advantage of a late change of circumstances.Its a funny story actually, he recalls. For that game against Wimbledon, I was down as the 13th man in those days it was only 11 players plus one sub, so I wasnt meant to play. The meeting time at the stadium was 1.45pm, for a 3pm kick-off. I arrived at the station at 12.15pm and thought, Im not even playing today. There was a Wimpy nearby, a 100-yard walk. I sat down and thought, Ill have a double Wimpy and chips. When Id finished, there was still 20 minutes to burn before I even needed to start to move, so I had a knickerbocker glory too.When I got to the stadium, I found out that one of the team had gotten ill overnight, so I had to be the substitute with all of this food in my stomach. And of course, after 15 minutes, a lad called Dean White gets a bad injury and is stretchered off. On I came, and I played well. We won 6-1 and I got my first goal. Maybe modern players should look into that diet more.TOPICSGillinghamJoe MewisSocial Links NavigationFor more than a decade, Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor. Mewis has had stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others and worked at FourFourTwo throughout Euro 2024, reporting on the tournament. In addition to his journalist work, Mewis is also the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team. Now working as a digital marketing coordinator at Harrogate Town, too, Mewis counts some of his best career moments as being in the iconic Spygate press conference under Marcelo Bielsa and seeing his beloved Leeds lift the Championship trophy during lockdown.
