BLINDED BY THE BRIGHT LIGHTS

Paul Benson was working as an accountant in the City of London when he skived off work to accept the offer that changed his life.

- CHRIS DUNLAVY

“I was 22 or 23, playing for a team called White Ensign in the Essex Olympian League,” recalls the former Charlton Athletic, Swindon Town and Luton Town striker, now 40.

“I’d been on trial at Southend and scored four goals in three games. The problem was, they were flying in League Two at the time.

“Steve Tilson, the manager, was very honest. He said ‘You’ve done really well. But I think we’ll probably go up this year and it might be too much for you. You can come back in pre-season or, if you’d prefer, Dagenham has been watching you and are very interested’.

“Dagenham organized for me to play in a trial game, which I remember well because I was rubbish! I didn’t score, did nothing of note. I thought ‘I’ve blown this here’. But when I went into the clubhouse, John Still was there. He said ‘Well done, son, come to my office tomorrow and we’ll talk about a contract’.

“In the heat of the moment, I said ‘Yeah, great’, completely forgetting I had a full-time job. The next day, I had to make up some story about meeting a client so I could sneak out of the office and get the tube to Dagenham East.

“When I got to the ground, Stilly said ‘What do you need?’. I was earning about £350-a-week at the time, but even a sniff of football was enough. I didn’t want to be an accountant.

“I said to him ‘Look, I’m renting in London at the moment. I’ll move back home with my mum and I’ll do it for £150. John shook his head. He said ‘That would be a bit of a p***take’. I’ll give you £175’. I signed up, quit my job and went back to my mum’s with my tail between my legs.