Team-mates – Bristol Rovers midfielder Chris Lines

Best mate?

Ollie Clarke. He's my midfield partner most of the time and he was up-and-coming in the youth team in my first spell at the club (2002-2011), so I knew of him around then. When I came back to the club, he was a first-team player and my roommate. We've been away together a few times as well.

Last to buy dinner?

Ellis Harrison brings a little game on his phone where you stick your finger on the screen and whoever the red arrow lands on has to pay.

I'm not sure whether he's using that as his little excuse or not. Maybe he's rigged his phone – it always seems to land on me. There are quite a lot of stingy blokes at the club, actually.

Worst dressed?

Tom Lockyer lost a vote on this recently. He had this silver necklace for which he got stick, though the rest of his gear wasn't that bad.

We went away to Portugal pre-season and one night we had to vote for the worst-dressed on our night out. It was pretty savage on some of the lads.

Dressing-room DJ?

I look after the music. I try to mix it up to please everyone. We've got quite a young squad.

I'm not the typical over-30. I like hip-hop and rap. I've got a dressing room playlist, so we just add to that. There don't seem to be any complaints.

Always late for training?

Byron Moore would be late for his own funeral! He's not always late, but he likes to leave it to the last possible minute. The fines are quite hefty for being late and he's had a few.

Teacher's pet?

Stuart Sinclair, because he's worked with the gaffer for most of his career. He's always the one he can trust. Ellis Harrison gets away with murder as well. The gaffer let him off a fine the other day.

First on the dance floor?

Not many, to be fair. We haven't had a social night for a while. I think we've got a squad of toe-tappers.

Most likely to disgrace himself at the Christmas party?

Again, we've never really had any stand-out ones. You get a couple of the younger lads who don't go out much and go overboard.

But I'm one of the older ones and, as well as letting my hair down, I've got to make sure the lads behave themselves.

FIFA king?

The lads are all playing this game called Fortnite at the moment. They don't play FIFA. I haven't touched a computer game in my life. There are seven or eight lads that play it all day. They seem to be buzzing about Fortnite at the moment, so FIFA has taken a back seat.

Worst tattoos?

Our physio, Keith Graham, has a Chinese symbol. It's a semi-permanent tattoo that he's had for 20 years. Something off the Chinese takeaway menu, perhaps.

Likely to make the best manager?

I would put myself forward, but I don't know if that's the path I want to take. Tony Craig has just come in. He's looking to go into coaching and he's got manager written all over him. Tony has a lot of experience. He's vocal. That's what he's looking to do.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*