“I was still living at home with my mum in Stratford!”

Alton Thelwell’s life changed - alongside his great friend Ledley King - almost 22 years ago.

Seemingly out of the blue, the Academy graduates from East London were thrown in at the deep end against Liverpool in the Premier League at White Hart Lane on 19 November, 2000.

George Graham was manager, we were 11th and leading up to this game, we’d lost Ben Thatcher and Ramon Vega to injury. Meanwhile, Liverpool were flying under Gerard Houllier. Sitting third in the table, packed with stars – Fowler, Owen, Gerrard, Redknapp, Carragher, Hyypia, Berger, Hamann, Murphy, McAllister, Litmanen, Babbel, Smicer, Ziege – they would clinch the treble of League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup that season.

Ledley, just turned 20, made his debut in the final game of 1998/99 but had only featured another three times before this game against Liverpool. Alton, also 20, appeared on the bench at West Ham two years earlier, but had yet to make his debut.

That was about to change...

The pair started - Alton in a back three, Ledley in midfield - and we won 2-1 thanks to goals from Les Ferdinand and Tim Sherwood. Both youngsters stayed in and around the squad for the rest of the season, Ledley with 23 appearances, Alton making 18 as we finished 12th and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup. Both featured off the bench against Arsenal at Old Trafford.

Ledley went on to become a modern great, a Spurs hero and legend, captain, one-club man, 323 appearances until being forced to retire in 2012.

This is Alton’s story, in his own words...

“Wow, 20 years ago, that sounds ridiculous for a start! I’d been in and around the squad, training with the first team a bit more, travelling with the squad and prior to that, George Graham put me on the bench six, seven games on the trot, but I never actually got on. I think he did that to get me accustomed to the atmosphere in and around the squad.

“This game was a Sunday, I remember that. We were training on what must have been the Saturday. We were doing team shape, 11v11, the manager was changing it about and then we went onto set-plays, and I was still involved! I thought ‘okay, what’s going on here?’ but got on with it.

“George then said, ‘okay boys, that’s it, see you tomorrow’ and no-one said a word. Ledley was also involved and I thought ‘we might have a chance here’. Anyway, I told my family that night, but I didn’t want to put pressure on myself, I didn’t want to over-hype it because I didn’t really know, but I just told them all to get there.

“On the day, I turned up, saw the line-up and there I was, starting! I didn’t know, but in the back of my mind I knew there was a chance and that’s how it all played out.

“You are then like, ‘wow, it’s happening’. I knew in an hour-and-a-half, the whistle was going, and I was making my debut against Liverpool! All I was thinking about was Owen and Fowler, world-class strikers, and this was my first game.

“I played on the left of a back three, I’m right-footed, it’s live on Sky Sports, main game on a Sunday, I was just thinking ‘this could go one of two ways’. All these things go through your head. You can’t help it! I’m thinking ‘if I mess up now, is that it?’, that kind of thing. The pressure was on. I thought ‘Alton, don’t think about it, just do what you’ve been doing, block everything else out, you’ll be fine’ and that was that.

“In the end, it went brilliantly. To go into the team and win 2-1, it was a perfect start to my career. It couldn’t have gone better. The fans were brilliant. Myself and Ledley playing seemed to give everyone a lift, two young boys coming through the Academy and we end up beating Liverpool.

“I remember the crowd gave me a huge cheer on my first touch. They were amazing. They helped me settle into it. That result seemed to give everyone a lift. Maybe it was a bit of a moment...

“At the time, I was still living at home with my mum in Stratford! I went back home and everyone’s like ‘great game, well done’. I couldn’t get away from it! Then the newspapers the next day, hyping it up.

“I think there were stories about our younger players, me, Ledley, Matty Etherington, Simon Davies, Anthony Gardner. It was all a bit of a whirlwind.

“I started the game late, as well. I only joined Spurs aged 16 after a trial. The odds were stacked against me initially because most of the ‘YTS’ lads were likely to get contracts but literally on the last day of the trial they told me I had a two-year YTS. I got through by the skin of my teeth!

“I did well in the first year of my YTS and then got on the bench against West Ham (November, 1998) in my second year. That was crazy! Then it was Liverpool and my career went from zero to 100 really quickly.

“I stayed in and around it for the rest of that season, but I had a groin injury that I seemed to be carrying forever. I just wanted to play. In the end, that got the better of me and I was out for about 10 months.

“By the time I came back, I only had four months left on my contract, so it was an uphill struggle.

“My serious injury was when I was at Hull, 2004. I came back from that at 26, 27, signed for Orient in 2007 but I was like Ledley, I couldn’t train, just played games. Even then, you know that your career is probably coming to an end but you hang in there for as long as you can.

“You know though and you think ‘if this stops, what do I do next?’ and to be honest, I always enjoyed going to the gym and at the back of my mind, I was thinking personal trainer, that would keep me in the gym, keep me active, I was into that. I always thought it would be something good for me.

“It properly dawned on me when I went to Thailand for a trial in 2009 and my knee went completely. I was struggling. On the flight back, that was the ‘lightbulb’ moment. I asked myself ‘what are you going to do now?’ and the answer was... personal training.

“As soon as I landed back home, I made enquiries and here I am today. I still played though. I got my qualifications (for personal training) but I couldn’t let the football go! I was 29 and I wanted to do a bit more. It was nagging away in there. I wanted to play. I went to Newport, Carshalton, Billericay, but I was picking up little injuries and I just decided it was too much. That was around 2012, enough was enough.

“It’s a tricky transition. When you are in the game, you feel like it’s never going to end. It’s just how life pans out, I guess. I’ve learned a lot about the body that I’m now using as a PT (personal trainer). I guess you have to look at the silver lining. For a start, I can now pass on my knowledge to anyone struggling with injuries.

“So now, I’ve been doing PT for what must be 10 years. I’m self-employed and work out of Physicals Gym in Woodford, still local, still friends with Ledley, after all these years!"

This interview was conducted in January, 2020.

Alton continues to work as a PT in Woodford, and has recently been on a course to study counselling.

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