My mom spoiled me as a kid. She worked three jobs to buy me the things I wanted.

 

I come from a humble background. We had a nice house but it was in a bad area. 

 

I never knew my father; my stepfather raised me. He taught me to play football. 

 

Maybe I’d have been a boxer. My dad was a boxing coach. I used to go to the gym with him, was punching a bag at the age of six. I never saw myself sitting in an office working 9 to 5.

 

My friends looked up to me. A lot of them are in prison now, committing crimes, some have died recently. 

 

If you forget where you’re from, you don’t know where you’re going. I still go back when I can. 

 

I signed for Queens Park Rangers at 9. I loved the club—still support them—but it was too far to travel every day. When Arsenal came in for me a year later it was a no-brainer. Highbury [Arsenal’s old ground] was five minutes from home; all my family supported Arsenal. 

 

I got a real football education at Arsenal. The way I play is a reflection of what they taught me.  

 

It was a big mistake on my part [Bothroyd was sold after he threw his shirt at Arsenal’s youth team coach Don Howe without ever playing for the first team]. I’ve apologized for it until I’m blue in the face.

 

I had a chip on my shoulder. I grew up in a rough area. But things could have been handled differently, especially considering what young players get up to today.  

 

It was a step back for me. It’s probably why I’ve never played for one of the biggest clubs, but I’ve been happy with my career. I’ve played Premier League football, I’ve been capped for England, I’ve earned good money.

 

Playing for England was surreal, a great moment, but I think I was happiest when I was starting out at Arsenal. 

 

I still feel like a kid. My love for the game is the same, I’m still very competitive. Of course, you still get a buzz from scoring goals, from the crowd singing your name.

 

I always had an interest in playing in Asia. I had been on a pre-season tour of Malaysia and it was clear from that, that people over here really love their football. 

 

The offer was very good, so I thought why not. I talked to friends like Nicholas Anelka who had played out in China. I met the manager and he told me about Thai football, how the team would play. It seemed like a good fit. 

 

I’m doing this for my family. Any job you work in, you have to be looking after your family. Football is a short career. I miss my son but I don’t miss home. 

 

The more international players come, the more the Thai Premier League improves. The chairman wants me to be an ambassador for Thai football.

 

Thai players are very technical; they have a lot of ability. But certain things at the clubs are a little slow. Not tactics or anything, just the little things, the infrastructure. 

 

Thai football thinks it has got too far to go. You have to believe. When I was young, I trained with Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, but at 16 I believed I could be as good as them.  

 

I was brought up to be an individual, to do what I needed to do. For Thai players it’s still all about being with their family. I’m pleased that [teammate] Teerasil Dangda is off to Spain, but he could have done it earlier. I went to play in Italy when I was just 21.

 

I learned a lot when I moved to Italy. I couldn’t get to grips with the lifestyle at first; it was tough. I ran up a huge phone bill calling home. But I met my wife, so it was definitely a good experience.

 

Italian football was a real eye-opener, though. I saw the Italian players training so hard. I was thinking, shit, I’ve wasted so much time. 

 

People always say footballers earn too much money. You don’t hear people complaining about actors getting paid millions for just one film. Footballers are the scape-goats for everything. 

 

How can I be a bad boy? I am an executive member of a cancer trust. I work with terminally ill children, I’m currently setting up my own charity. People see stuff in the papers and just make assumptions. 

 

I want to give back. I want to adopt a child one day. But because you’re a footballer people believe what they want to believe. 

 

Footballers have to be thick-skinned, you have to take a lot of stick. You have to be able to take the bad times as well as the good times. There will be bad times. 

 

I was told I wasn’t going to fulfill my potential by one of my old coaches. My agent sat me down and said the same thing. I took the negative criticism and turned it into a positive. I showed them I could do whatever I wanted to do.

 

Desire is key. The rest follows. You can’t be a lucky footballer. Winning the lottery—that’s lucky. You can’t play football for 15 years at the top level by being lucky.

 

London and Bangkok are not that different. They are both big cities but things do seem quite slow here in comparison. I like to walk around. For me, it’s a fascinating way of life here. People are very friendly. 

 

I think about life after football all the time. I’m interested in property and development, maybe I’ll do that. I don’t want to be a manager, there’s too much pressure.

 

Whatever I do I want to be a success. I want to be one of the best.