“When I was a kid, I thought my dad was a little bit harsh with me at times. Sometimes I needed an arm around me instead of my dad telling me what I did wrong, but it obviously worked.”

To this day, one of my proudest achievements is captaining my country.

I haven’t retired from international football – I still believe I have a part to play in the future of England.

I have got this obsessive compulsive disorder where I have to have everything in a straight line, or everything has to be in pairs.

I just want people to see me as a hard-working footballer and someone who is passionate about the game.

One thing will not change – we will be going out to win.

Wayne’s like my son, Brooklyn, who goes out in the garden to play and have fun.

My priority is always the family and Victoria [Beckham] and I always ensure we are there for our children. We work hard but family comes first.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Being at a club that supported me meant a lot.

That was in the past – we’re in the future now.

I didn’t want to go there [America] at 34 years old and for people to say he’s only going for the money. It’s not what I’m going out there to do

I’ve always come back from adversity, and I’ve always had the mentality of proving people wrong.

You will go through tough times, it’s about getting through them.

With United, we’d all grown up together, we all wanted to win the biggest trophy in football. We did it togther.

[Meeting Mandela] was the highlight of my career; to meet such a great man and a strong man and such a passionate man about sport and life will always stay with me.

I’m not silly enough to think I’m going to change the whole culture … but I do have a belief that soccer can go to a different level.

Let us leave a splendid legacy for our children…let us turn to them and say, this you inherit: guard it well, for it is far more precious than money…and once destroyed, nature’s beauty cannot be repurchased at any price.

I was lucky to come from a difficult area. It teaches you not just about football but also life. There were lots of kids from different races and poor families. People had to struggle to get through the day.

Kids are great. That’s one of the best things about our business, all the kids you get to meet. It’s a shame they have to grow up to be regular people and come to the games and call you names.

My humanity, in common with all of God’s children, gives the greatest flight to my full range of my possibilities.

It’s the first time it’s happened to me and maybe the last. It’s a strange sensation, not normal for me. I can’t remember scoring three goals, even when I was a kid.

I strongly believe the black culture spends too much time, energy and effort raising, praising, and teasing our black children about the dubious glories of professional sports.

A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood.

It’s more pressure on women to – if they marry or partner with someone, to partner with the right person. Because you cannot have a full career and a full life at home with your children if you are also doing all of the housework and child care.