Craig Rocastle’s 10 year professional football career has seen him play for 15 different clubs and travel as far afield as Greece and America. After starting life at Queens Park Rangers, the cousin of the late Arsenal and England midfielder David Rocastle spent time with Chelsea, Sheffield Wednesday and Oldham Atheltic.
In 2008 he had his first taste of playing football abroad when he signed for Greek side Thrasyvoulos, before eventually moving back to England to play non-league football for Welling United.
After a short spell with Dover Athletic and then Forest Green Rovers, the 30-year-old was soon backing his bags once again when he joined MLS outfit Sporting Kansas City in 2010.
Sportsvibe.co.uk caught up with the midfielder to talk about playing under Roman Abramovich, enthusiastic Greek fans and playing international football for Grenada.
Q. Being the cousin of former Arsenal legend David Rocastle was football always going to be in your blood?
It is always what I wanted to do, it was my boyhood dream and luckily it happened for me. In a way it helped me David being a professional footballer but I didn’t spend much of my later years with David as he was travelling a lot but it definitely gave me an extra incentive to be where he was and the heights he reached in his career.
I don’t mind the pressure but I set myself tough expectations from a very young age, but the whole thing has been a positive rather than a negative.
Q. You began your career in England with Chelsea, what was that like?
The whole Chelsea thing was like a dream come true; within four months of signing for the club I was given a squad number and place,and I was in the first team before Christmas so it was a great achievement, especially with all the money they had as it was the season that Roman Abramovich took over. I was quite surprised I broke into the first-team so early but I just worked hard and got rewarded.
Q. During your time with Chelsea you went on loan to a few clubs before moving to teams including Sheffield Wednesday and Port Vale, what were those experiences like?
It was exciting but tough at the same time, for me it was a bit of a reality check. I had never got on the pitch for Chelsea so when I went on loan to Barnsley I made my football league debut and went on to play a few games for the club. The first couple of games were great and then I realised the pressures of first-team football when you lose a few games and the crowd gets on your back.
Playing in the lower leagues definitely welcomed me into the game and made me realise what the game was really about. It is a massive step up from playing reserve team football to playing with a first team squad.
Q. Your first taste of football aboard was in Greece for Thrasyvoulos, what was it like playing abroad?
It was always my ambition to play in Europe and to get the opportunity to play in the top league in Greece was fantastic. It was definitely what I wanted to do, but unfortunately there were some financial trouble off the pitch, but on the football side of things, playing football abroad and learning a new language was amazing.
Q. What was it like in the dressing room and on the pitch in Greece, did you have to speak Greek or did the rest of the team speak English?
To be honest it was tough, they don’t really warm to you straight away because your going to be taking somebody’s place. Some of them could speak broken English but they encourage you to learn their language first so I had to learn Greek. It wasn’t that difficult because it was the same words everyday on the training ground and the basics in life – but I actually enjoyed learning a new language and being able to speak to people and communicate in their country.
Q. When watching images of Greek sport on TV, the fans seems really passionate not just at football matches but all sports, did that come across when you were playing out there?
I would say in terms of people supporting their teams the passion is the same as back home in England, the main difference is how far they go with the fireworks and the flairs. A lot of the time there was fighting amongst the fans in the ground. At times it could be quite distracting when chairs were flying across the stands. Once the game has actually finished and your leaving the dressing room and you look at the stadium it looks like a totally different place. Seats had to replaced after each game but they were use to it, it was like part of their culture.
Q. What was it like after playing in Europe to come back to the UK and play non-league football?
It was a bit of a sticky situation, as I had to wait for my clearance. The manager that had me at Gravesend and Northfleet when I was a youth player took over at Welling and asked me to come and play for him so I did it as a favour to him as he was my last manager before I went professional and to keep myself fit.
I bounced around for a month or two and caught up with managers who were in the game when I was younger and I have to thank Andy Hessenthaler and Dave Hockaday for letting me spend time getting fit with Dover and Forest Green Rovers respectively.
Q. You then moved to the United States with MLS side Sporting Kansas City in 2010, before that move was there interest from any other clubs in Europe or other parts of the world?
Just before that I had the option to go to Denmark but due to some details in the Greek contract and the move broke down so really I was relying on the States as that was the only thing definitely guaranteed for me coming into the New Year.
Q. There are quite a few British players now plying their trade in the MLS, is there a bit of banter when you come up against each other?
Everyone sticks together and catches up, I’ve been a great friend with Luke Rodgers (New York Red Bulls) for years now and it is great to have him over. Before the games it is always good to catch up with fellow Brits playing out here.
Q. How do the crowds differ between the States and back home in England?
It’s a lot different in that way; the league is doing a lot better than it has done in the past. More stars are coming over to play in the MLS and they’re stepping up to. When you play sides like LA Galaxy and New York Red Bulls who have big stars, they have great support at their stadiums.
Seattle are known for there great support and always sell out but there are still some teams in the league that haven’t got a great support. Something I have also noticed this season has been fans have started to travel to away games.
Q. You mentioned how it was an ambition of yours to play over in Europe and in America, would you suggest playing football abroad to friends back in England?
For sure, I’ve always encouraged people to see what is out there and how far you can go, if you are a footballer or anything for that matter you don’t want to limit yourself to where you can play. Its great to go and experience another culture and another league in the game, I was glad to see Joe Cole went to France, for him to play out there is good and you definitely benefit from it.
Q. You have also managed to play international football for Grenada, how has that experience been?
To be honest Grenada was always the most likely option for me. When I joined Chelsea there was a chance of playing for England, but without playing at a high standard on a regular basis it is very difficult to get selected to play for England. When I was around 26, that’s when I committed myself to Grenada and said I would definitely play for you, and once I had settled down here in the United States I won my first international cap a year and a half ago.
Q. Is there anything you miss from England?
At the end of the day home is home, and I do miss England but I wouldn’t change anything and have enjoyed learning things from different cultures. One of the things I miss is the top level football from back home, but I do get to watch a lot of the games on TV.
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