“I worked as a hairdresser before joining Gillingham – it was clattering Steve Bruce that earned me the contract” How Tony Cascarino earned his big break in football

Tony Cascarino and Teddy Sheringham.

Long before Tony Cascarino was a Republic of Ireland international playing in successive World Cups, he was a promising youngster balancing life on the training ground with that on building sites and hairdressing salons.

Cascarino’s career would see him take in stints at Chelsea and Marseille, but at the age of 18 he was drifting away from the game.