All I have ever wanted to do is be a professional footballer.
Aaron Ramsey
Ever since I was a boy, I have wanted to be a professional footballer and to captain my country one day.
It's unbelievable what the rewards are like with being a footballer, but I'm not stupid - I don't go around flaunting it.
We're professional footballers, so we have to go out there and perform as best we can and try and get the results that we want.
When I was in school with my friends and stuff, you always used to put yourself in the situation of footballers of the time and pretend to be them.
Originally, I wanted a pop career and formed a girl-band 'Genie Queen' managed by Andy McClusky from 'Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark', but it didn't work out. My brother John is the talented singer and song-writer with 'The Razz,' while my other brother Sean is a footballer for Telford United.
Abbey Clancy
I've got no interest in football. My brother's a footballer, too, and I was dragged to the freezing pitch every week as a child. I don't see much glamour in it.
Being married to a footballer is some girls' dream, but it isn't always like that. I work.
People don't understand that the feel of the surface is so important for a footballer. The ball travels on the surface; our feet move on the surface - all of that goes into how the game is actually played.
Abby Wambach
Part of the reason that I wanted to become a footballer was to help my family and friends financially so that was one of the thoughts that kept me going.
Abdoulaye Doucoure
We work just as hard as any footballer, period. We go through the same experiences and heartaches. We make the same sacrifices. We leave our families behind to chase our dreams, too.
Ada Hegerberg
My father and my mother were professional footballers and have also been coaches.
I never saw myself as a women's footballer. Not when I was in my tiny village in Norway. Not when I was suffering in Germany. Not when I finally made it to Lyon.
Football, for me, was a place where I got accepted for being a good footballer.
Adam Goodes
Sometimes when you are a professional footballer, you have to deal with tough decisions.
Adam Lallana
Every footballer gets injuries - Jordan Henderson has had a tough couple of years. We all have to deal with it at some stage in our career.
I usually sprint for 20 to 30 metres - occasionally 50 to 60 metres maximum. But no footballer ever sprints a complete 100 metres during a game.
Adama Traore
We wanted to be footballers, not part of some gang.
I'm a footballer first and foremost and I want to be remembered for what I do on the pitch.
Adebayo Akinfenwa
I know that I don't look like a footballer but I've always enjoyed working out and I've always been bigger than most people out there. I come from big stock. If you see my brothers and me together, we look like a wrestling tag team trio.
Of course I know I am not the average footballer. But I'd be lying if I said I set out to be different, I didn't set out to go against the grain.
Like individuals in all walks of life, footballers want stability and we have families to look after.
Everyone likes to be praised for their work and footballers are no different but the key thing is staying level-headed.
As a footballer I know what I'm good at and I've now embraced it.
People think that football is all glamour and money but trust me all footballers go through the same boring and annoying things as everybody else.
Boredom does get you into trouble and we footballers have a lot of time on our hands, and sometimes we fill up that time with stuff that isn't always positive.
Everyone has got a perception of what a footballer is and, because I am a certain size, that I can only play one way - as a battering ram.
A footballer who says they don't want to start games is in the wrong job.
I do think there is a responsibility for myself as being a senior professional footballer to be able to pass on my experiences to the younger generation.
You go to a lot of cities they've got these great big footballer's houses. There's not many in Stoke-on-Trent.
I understand football. I have always been a good footballer, and that gets overlooked by most people.
I see my uncle as an idol, someone I have always looked up to as a footballer.
As a footballer you're committed to play for the badge, train alongside fantastic players daily and compete against some of the game's best every weekend. What more can you ask for.
If I hadn't wanted to become a footballer, Dad wouldn't have made me do it.
Everyone in the Premier League feels pressure to get results. It is part of being a footballer.
As a footballer, you want to play every game.
In my head, I was like any young kid: 'I'm going to be a footballer.' But at the same time, my mum and dad were making me do my schoolwork, and that was important.
People at school used to assume I was going to be a footballer, and it wasn't until I got to 16, when I was at Southampton, that I had a doubt for the first time in my life. Southampton said I wasn't big enough, but it was just because I hadn't grown. Simple as that.
I played semi-pro at Chalfont St. Peter but it's so hard to become a pro footballer - I think there's even more competition than acting.
My attitude as a footballer was to always be prepared - make sure you're the fittest and know who you're up against. And that's exactly how I treat the media side.
Being a footballer was about analysing performance, never being satisfied, seeing what lessons you can learn and who you can learn from.
When I started, when I was eight, I never thought I would make a career out of being a woman footballer.
My body shape has transformed as sports science research has developed. It used to be thought that footballers needed to be big and do lots of weights and little cardio.
When I arrived in Milan, I found myself surrounded by many fantastic footballers.
As a footballer, everything you've achieved can easily be lost, and then you are nobody. That's just how life is, and that's why you shouldn't let things get you down. That's the reason I treat every match like a final.
Looking at everything I've done in my career as a footballer, at all the titles, I believe that what's hugely important is motivation.
If a footballer goes on the pitch with the right mentality, he will perform well.
I always wanted to be a footballer; I always wanted to play. I was born to be a footballer.
If a footballer is well motivated and has various things to motivate him every day, he will keep achieving his goals.
My dream was always to be a footballer and help my family.
