Ben Herd / Ben Herd / 28 April 2010 / Leave a comment " class="free-bet-btn" rel="external" onclick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/G4/inline-freebet');" target="_blank">Free Bet

Ben is curently still sidelined by injury but being the workaholic that he is, he caught up with big target man Julian Alsop of Chelteham Town for a bit of his usual banter...

"Yes, I have been sacked and banned from the game but I have had a good career and more importantly I have always played the game on my terms!"

It was another massive win for us last weekend as we travelled to Cheltenham Town. Unfortunately, I am still nursing a bad ankle, so I had to endure more rehab down the gym rather than travel with the team. The recovery from injury is coming along nicely, although not as quickly as I would have liked, but hopefully I will play again this season. Even though I didn't watch the game against Cheltenham, I didn't neglect my duties to betting.betfair and caught up with Cheltenham's big target man, Julian Alsop. Julian has played nearly 800 games in his career and this time last year was semi-retired from the game until Martin Allen came along and offered him the chance to play for Cheltenham for the second time. Here's what he had to say:

So Julian what did you make of Saturday's game?

I have to say that Aldershot were the second best side, after Rochdale, which we have come up against this season. They were a big, physical side that was also very well organised and disciplined. From a Cheltenham point of view, we weren't awful but it was more of a case of Aldershot being too good for us to break them down. In short, we didn't have enough. I think Aldershot are a good blueprint for teams to copy in this division with their organised approach and gameplan that revolves around outmuscling opponents. 8 out of 10 games teams like Aldershot will get results and have a good chance of getting out of this division.

Last summer at the age of 35 you were playing for lowly Bishop's Cleeve, were you surprised to be given another crack at league football?

I had been doing a degree for the past four years in financial accounting management and just doing bits and bobs on the side. I was playing for Bishop's Cleeve and we always played Cheltenham in pre-season. In the game I kicked Cheltenham's centre halves about and ruffed them up a bit as I usually do. After the game Martin Allen approached me and asked me what I was up to and would I come down training with them. I was a bit reluctant at first but I gave it a go and after one day's training I was offered a month-to-month deal. I still live in Cheltenham and I am only five minutes from the ground and training ground so it just fell into my lap really. But I wouldn't have signed for another club based further way from my home, I would have just carried on playing for Bishop's Cleeve.

Who will be getting your vote for player of the season at Cheltenham?

We have been rubbish this season, to be brutally honest. It's only in the last six weeks that anybody has done reasonably well, but all in all I would probably go for Michael Townsend, our centre half.

Are there any regrets that you harbour about your career?

No. I have played since 1992 and my old man's a bit of a "stato" and recently told me I had played nearly 800 games all in. I am proud of my career. Yes, I have been sacked and banned from the game but I have had a good career and more importantly I have always played the game on my terms!

What career are you going to pursue after Football?

As I said, for the past four years I have been doing an accountancy degree and I thought I wanted to be an accountant, but after spending a week in an office I have never been so bored in all of my life! When you play football for a living you are outside all of the time and I now know that I am not cut out for the office environment. I have a few things on the back burner, which I don't want to go into in too much detail but it involves helping players getting into work after football.


Football

Favourite Premier League Player? David Ginola
Favourite player outside the Premier League? Kevin Nolan
Manager you'd most like to work under? Steve Cotterill
Club you'd most like to play for? Coventry City

Best mate in Football? Michael Howard
Messiest eater? Josh Low
Biggest ladies man? Michael Pook
Worse Dressed team-mate? Justin Richards - Comes in looking like he's wearing a camouflage tent!

Non-football

Dream date? Halle Berry
Favourite TV programme? In the Night Gardens - on CBeebies
Favourite shop? House of Frazer
Worst vice? Alcohol
Biggest pet hate? Big Time Charlies!

50/50

Chinese or Curry? Curry
Pepsi or Coke? Diet Coke!
BMW or Audi? Audi
Pro Evo or Fifa? Neither
Michael Buble or Akon? A mixture of both

Tags: Aldershot FC, Ben Herd, Julian Alsop, Kevin Nolam, League Two football, League two footballers