Mothers are football’s forgotten heroes – they deserve more credit

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.

Stories like this come to mind on the weekend of Mother’s Day, which is an occasion that should be marked properly in football. This job is tough on families: those who make such incredible sacrifices when you are making your way in the game, and the loved ones who deal with the frantic schedule and unsociable hours when you become a player or a manager.

In my role as Hereford manager I drive about 1,000 miles a week between Grimsby, Hereford and Birmingham, where we train. We often have two games and it means time at home with my partner, Becky, and our two young children can be limited. When you get that space with them and can just switch off, immersing yourself in everything they are doing, it’s vital to make the most of it. Becky is an incredible mum: she runs two businesses alongside doing most of the childcare, and I can’t speak enough about how supportive she is. I can get stressed sometimes but she is positive, calm, composed and sees the best in people.

Partnerships like ours are sometimes hard to find when you work in this industry. I did not meet Becky until I was 32 and, until then, found it hard to sustain