When Andy Reid was coming through the ranks at Nottingham Forest in the late 90s and early 2000s, a birthday was a day to dread rather than anticipate with any pleasure.
"I remember that you'd try to keep your birthday quiet at all costs," the former Ireland international told Si Ferry's Open Goal podcast.
"Somebody had a little book. Your birthday was in the book. You'd try to hide and stay out of the way but somebody would get you and they'd bring you down... At Forest, we got changed in the away dressing room at the actual stadium and walked to the training ground. They'd fill up a bath and they'd put shoe polish in it. The boys would piss in it and shit in it and do all sorts.
"All of a sudden you'd think, 'I'm alright' and then everything would go quiet and lads would burst out of corridors, pick you up, take you down and dump you in this bath. There could be bleach, all sorts in it.
"It's definitely not something that's appropriate now but it was something that happened back then. Times have changed."
Overall, Reid enjoyed his time as a young player at Forest. That was particularly due to the presence of academy manager Paul Hart who brought through players like Michael Dawson, Jermaine Jenas and David Prutton.
Now head coach of the Ireland U18s, Reid tries to inspire the same values that Hart did in him.
"He was a hard man as well," said Reid of Hart.
"He'd put a lot of discipline in you. He instilled the right things in us, not just to become good players but to become good people.
"We had to know everybody's name that worked at the club. We had to show everybody that respect, saying please and thank you for things when we'd go away.
"It's something that I try to instil in young players that I work with today."
Picture credit: Brian Lawless / SPORTSFILE and Gemma Fletcher / Shutterstock.com
