Neil Etheridge: ‘I was about a week away from going back to the Philippines’

07 May 2018 21:30
Cardiff‘s goalkeeper tells of his pride in his club’s return to the Premier League and how close he was to giving up playing hereFrom turning out for non-league Leatherhead to being released by Fulham, sleeping on a friend’s couch at Oldham and dipping into his own pocket to train at Charlton Neil Etheridge’s journey to the Premier League has taken him on a roundabout route that also includes racking up thousands of air miles travelling back and forth to the Philippines, where his status as the country’s most famous footballer has just been rubber-stamped.It is an inspirational story that Etheridge tells as he sits on a stage in Cardiff’s press room, still wearing his green goalkeeper’s shirt, basking in the glow of their promotion from the Championship while also reflecting on the day when he was ready to give up on the dream of carving out a career in the Football League. “I sold my house and I sold my cars and I was about a week away from going back to the Philippines,” says Etheridge, who was born in Enfield to an English father and a Filipino mother. Related: Cardiff City back in Premier League with Neil Warnock’s eighth promotion Related: Cardiff may not be liked but Neil Warnock’s achievement is extraordinary Continue reading......read full article

Source: TheGuardian