The Fashion of Football:

From Best To Beckham, from mod to label lover ...

EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT - DARREN WARD

Had to be a Millwall player. With Mark directing the book's traffic, there was no other choice, really. That said, Mark had been talking about Darren Ward a lot that season, as both a player and a fashion man, and although at the time the Millwall faithful had yet to be convinced by their centre-half, Mark thought differently.

'I reckon he's a confidence player,' he told me in Bar Italia one dinnertime, 'and you probably don't need telling but the crowd at Millwall can destroy anyone's confidence, especially if they put in a dodgy game or two. I mean, the verbals I've had with some of the guys around me about Ward. They've been slaughtering him. Of course, his barnet don't help.'
'What's it like?' I asked.

'It's like a blond mullet with a twist, a bit like Beckham about a year ago with lumps and bumps sticking out all over the place. That's what the local papers and the crowd call him, 'the Peckham Beckham', plus he drives a Harley Davidson pick-up, same car as our man in Madrid. But I think he's a good player and I also think he's really into his clothes. About a year ago, I saw him on Bond Street, bags and bags of Gucci, Vuitton, Prada gear.

I think he's worth a punt.'

By the time Mark had fixed up an interview, Ward had won over the notoriously hard-to-please (actually, isn't every football crowd notoriously hard to please?) Millwall faithful. His confidence was flowing, his defensive talents drawing applause and they had even stopped using the Peckham Beckham title to insult him. I couldn't make the interview because of a prior engagement but Mark and his partner Lou (who supports Chelsea and has a thing for Millwall's manager Dennis Wise that borders on the insane) trooped down to Millwall's training ground in Bromley in mid-February.

Prior to his arrival, the Millwall PR, Deano Standing, called Mark, told him that although Ward would love to talk about the subject, he wanted Mark checked out. He was suspicious that the interview might be a wind-up by his teammates. Ward had taken a lot of verbal for his dress sense in the changing-room and was a touch sensitive.

Even when the player met Mark and Lou, he acted in a shifty manner, constantly looking for signs of his teammates lurking nearby. Finally, satisfied that the interview was indeed kosher, Ward took Mark and Lou to the dining-room area. The following transcript is a record of their conversation.

Mark Baxter: Darren, thanks for agreeing to speak to us.
Darren Ward: No problem.
MB: Can we get a bit of background on you, footballwise?
DW: Yeah, I started playing in park football, really, Sunday teams and all that. Got scouted by Coventry and was there for a while, wasn't really working out, got approached by Watford and went there at 13 or 14, and signed as Schoolboy, YTS, and then I became a pro and came up through the ranks to the first team. Played in the Premiership for a couple of games when Watford were last in there. Anyway, Mark McGhee came in for me and I was happy to sign for Millwall.
MB: How about clothes, always an interest?
DW: Oh, yeah, always have been into fashion. Always into my gear. When I was younger, I was mainly into labels - Armani, DKNY, Gucci. As you get older, you find your style and I've got into the hip-hop look, all baggy and that. Hip hop is ruling the world, really, if you look around, with all the music, cars and fashions. I'm into some of it but with a bit of a twist. Stamping my own take on it.
MB: How about more formal wear, suits etc.?
DW: Yeah, had a couple made and have bought off-the-peg. Boss, Armani, typical footballers' wear, but to be honest [looks around], here at Millwall I'm on my own fashionwise. Some of the stuff I was wearing when I first came here is now being worn by some and I haven't worn it for ages. It's almost like I had to wear it first and then it got accepted. The amount of stick I've got over the years hasn't really bothered me, it's what I'm into, so be it. When I was at Watford and Vialli came in, he got us all suited up, Italian cut, smart, but not really me, too smart. They love a label, a certain make, I prefer a mix-and-match look, a street look. It's like the Christmas do here. I wore 508 really baggy jeans, Converse
trainers, a funky Goofy top, a suit jacket and a beenie hat. That's normal for me, dressed down, in fact, in some ways. Some took the right piss. A month or two later, they sort of come up to you and say 'You know that gear you were wearing, where d'ya get it?' I told them, 'Go find it yourself, I ain't telling you.' Half the gear I've got, I wouldn't wear it here.
MB: I think you are quite brave in a way, to walk into a dressing-room with 30 geezers in it, wearing something a bit different.
DW: Yeah, I took some verbals but I can give it back and they get used to you after a while.
MB: Where do you shop? Where do you go?
DW: I go up Bond Street, Covent Garden. I like the shop Rokit at the moment. A lot of it is second-hand. Imported from the States.
MB: Where do get your fashion ideas? Magazines, telly?
DW: Off the streets, really. My brothers are well into fashion as well and we keep each other informed. I've got one brother at West Ham, one on trial at Wycombe and the youngest is at Watford. I'm not really into a certain brand.
MB: Can I ask you about Beckham? We've asked everyone we've interviewed so far what they think of him.
DW: I think he is top man.
MB: You ain't got his number, have ya? [Laughter all round]
DW: Mate, I probably could get it, Wilkins [Ray, Millwall's assistant manager] knows his assistant really well. The way he handles it all, outside of football, terrific really. I think he sets the tone. He's clued up to the max. People think I'm copying him with my hair and all that, but I ain't really, I've just got similar tastes.
MB: Where do you get that cut?
DW: It's at a place called Artisan, near Harrow. It's cut by my brother's girlfriend actually.
MB: That's handy, cheaper that way.
DW: Nah, she's good, mate.
MB: Well, it certainly is a work of art. All geometric. That's what first made me think of approaching you for an interview. With a barnet like that, you must be into your fashions.
DW: It's all about having the balls to do something different sometimes. But you still have to know what's what.
MB: Are there any other players out there you admire?
DW: Dichio [Danny, Millwall centre-forward] here, he ain't bad.
MB: He liked an interesting barnet back in his QPR days, didn't he?
DW: At this level, there ain't too many. I liked what Scott Parker wore when he signed for Chelsea the other day. Suit jacket and ripped jeans.
MB: Do you buy stuff regular?
DW: Two or three times a month, I'll buy something but I'm getting into the whole lifestyle thing now. Interior design, motors, a nice kitchen and all
that. Me and my missus are doing our flat up, the whole package. I'm quite
creative really. I don't stand still, I like to move on. If I change
anything, clothes or what have you, I like to upgrade, get something different, better, each time.
MB: You're going well on the pitch this season as well.
DW: Ta, I've knuckled down, stopped going out, got a few early nights in. I can't go out and about, and play at my best. It's all about growing up, really. I expect the stick from the crowd if I ain't performing well. It's like you today, if you mess this up, you're gonna get stick, ain't you?
MB: Oh, yeah, not half. You haven't met Paolo, have you?
DW: Anyway, I feel it's going well this year for me. I want to have a good season.

Prophetic last words. Darren Ward, the Peckham Beckham, was in 2004 voted Millwall's player of the year . . . by the fans.