English Football League / Ben Herd / 08 August 2008 /

Betting.betfair.com's new columnist Ben Herd of Shrewsbury Town pens his first column and tells us all about leaving Watford, getting down on one knee and facing Macclesfield at the weekend.

Playing lower-divisions football might not be every boy's dream when they start out but, for me, I'm just trying to be the best I can be all the time and I'm having a fantastic time.

It's been great at Shrewsbury Town since I moved here three years ago. I spent all my youth football days with my local club, Watford. I was there from the age of eight and came through the ranks up to getting a YTS deal.

I lived away from home, firstly in digs - with great people I still keep in touch with now - then at my girlfriend's parents place, just so it wasn't easy to let home comforts stop me focusing on my football. I've got a sister and twin brother who've always been supportive. I'm the boss though, I'm all of ten minutes older than him!

I'm 23 now, but I still vividly remember getting my first professional deal. It was what I'd worked so hard for and I know, back then, I couldn't have imagined leaving Watford. Gianluca Vialli was the manager at the time but it was his assistant, Terry Byrne, who pulled me to one side and said they wanted to talk about a deal. I was still only just 17 at the time so that was great news.

By the time I got going as a pro, Ray Lewington was in charge and he told me he felt I needed to fill out physically a bit. Ultimately, I didn't play a first-team game for the club but the coaching of both Chris Cummins and Nigel Gibbs - and the things they said to me - have gone a long way to helping me make a career in the game.

The chance came to join Shrewsbury in 2005, just as I was being released by Watford, so it was a no-brainer to give it a try. I just wanted to play football for a living and if there was a club prepared to give me a chance, I remember thinking I wanted to give them my all in return.

I've played well over 100 games in three seasons and I'm looking forward to the new season more than ever before with Paul Simpson, the new manager, in charge. It's funny when you go away for the summer, you're never quite sure how you'll feel come July. But I'd had a good break, in fact a holiday with my girlfriend on Sal, in the Cape Verde Islands during which I proposed. Well I had been putting it off for six years or so...it was about time! I got down on one knee and everything, did it right!

At the club, we also went away to Spain during pre-season and that was great, looking back on it. I got a chance to talk to some of the new lads, away from the hustle and bustle of the training ground, and it was good to spend some decent time with the boys. We worked hard, as we have right throughout July, and I think it's really showing. Mind you, I can't sit still during our break before we started. I was out in the garden chopping down trees or going down the gym, things like that. I'm not a great one for doing nothing.

It looks as though we're now one of the more fancied teams in the division and I suppose I can see why. The chairman, Roland Wycherley, is quite ambitious, which is something any player wants to hear when they're at a club, and he's backed it up by letting the gaffer sign some quality, experienced players.

Richard Walker is here on loan for the season from Bristol Rovers and we've got Grant Holt, who was at Forest and scored loads of goals for Rochdale. They'll probably get the headlines if things go well for us, because goalscorers get the headlines. But, speaking as a true defender here (!), lads like Graham Coughlan and Shane Sherriff, who've come from Rotherham and Tranmere in that order, have got loads of experience and I'm learning from them all the time.

Obviously now, everyone's expecting us to beat Macclesfield at home this Saturday. But anyone who's got an ounce of knowledge knows football doesn't work like that. Of course we're going to be confident, but then which set of lads won't. We've all been waiting for this moment since July.

It's also the start of The Championship of course this weekend and for my first bet of the season I'm going for Crystal Palace to beat Watford at home this weekend. At [2.12], they're good value and Neil Warnock will have them fired up. My old club had a real go at getting promoted last year but they've lost far more players than they've signed this summer and I reckon it will take them a while to get going.

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