Calvin entertained guests at hospitality for the Dale match against Altrincham, 11th March and in a Q&A session with Martin Culshaw he spoke about his time, which he enjoyed immensely and still visits now when he not working on match day commentary.
Started at hometown Club Luton Town where you played 67 times for the Hatters, many of which were in the Championship. Was football all you knew growing up, did you know from a young age that is what you wanted to do? “I was very gifted in many different sports so I played all sorts when growing up. My Dad was heavily into cricket so he tried to move me in that direction but football was what I was best at”
A season or two at Luton was under some real testing times with the Club facing huge points deductions due to financial irregularities. What was that like as a player, knowing that no matter what you did as a group, no matter how well you played relegation was almost a certainty before ball was even kicked? “I suppose I was lucky in that I was quite young so I didn’t really think about whether I would be paid at the end of the month. I just concentrated on trying my best to get into the team”
Loans followed at Grimsby and Bristol City before a move to Crystal Palace under Neil Warnock in 2008. Again, playing in the Championship but this time for one of the big characters of football management in England. What was it like as a player under Neil Warnock? “Honestly, the best manager and person ever. He is such a genuine guy who really is great at man management. I remember when I went in to Palace to chat about signing and my dad came with me. I had to have a medical and Neil took my dad to the cricket whilst I was in the medical. My dad came back and said, son you’ll be ok here”
A few loan spells at Brighton, Millwall, Swindon and Leyton Orient as well as spells in the Crystal Palace side, saw you fluctuate between the Championship and League One. Was it your decision to go out on loan to get game time or was it the managers you had at the time? “They weren’t all my decision definitely not. Grimsby, I’m not sure many would want to go to Cleethorpes”
You played for some big name managers in English football just below the Premier League. Russell Slade, Gary Johnson, Kevin Blackwell, Mick Harford, Micky Adams, Neil Warnock, George Burley, Kenny Jackett. Who was your favourite manager from that little lot? “As I said before, Neil Warnock was definitely my favourite. My least favourite was George Burley, I just didn’t like his man management skills”
Spells at Port Vale, Mansfield and then York before you arrived on trial here at Spotland under Keith Hill. What were your initial thoughts of Rochdale and in particular Keith Hill? “I really like Keith, He reminds me a lot of Warnock in many ways”
A six year spell here at Spotland and I think it’s fair to say you earned yourself a bit of a cult hero status with the Dale fans? “I always like to think I gave my all for the team and the fans mostly felt that”
Your time here at Rochdale coincided with some of the best days that Rochdale AFC has ever known. An established League One Club with regular fixtures against some big name football Clubs like Sheffield United, Portsmouth, Charlton Athletic, Sunderland. They were good times under Keith? “Amazing. We had a great squad of players that when you look at how most went on to bigger and better things shows the quality. I had my own issues during this time but we all stuck together and when you think about some of the times we had. Some of the big games”
When you look back at some of your former team mates some very good players in there with the likes of Jamie Allen, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Steven Davies, Joey Thompson to name but a few but there is one player we have to talk about which is Ian Henderson. You have seen him a few times this season through your work with BBC Radio Manchester and you were also part of his latest testimonial events a couple of weeks ago. Firstly, how special a player is Hendo. To still be playing at 40, and not only playing but still scoring goals like his trademark chip on Saturday? “Hendo is unbelievable. If we’re honest, he probably underachieved in his career. His professionalism on and off the pitch was infectious. To still be doing it now is testament to Ian himself as a person”
Two other players who you played with in your time here are still very much involved today with Jim McNulty, the head coach and Josh Lillis, goalkeeping coach. How good of a job do you feel Jim is doing here, with all the off field issues last season to have guided his side to be within one game of Wembley in the FA Trophy and be in with a real shout of reaching the playoffs? “Jim has done remarkable things here, especially with the restraints he’s had to work under. He’s stuck to his guns and now it seems the team are reaping those rewards. This season could be very special and who knows two trips to Wembley”
You worked quite a lot with Keith Hicks and Siobhan McElhinney during your time here aiding their work in the community. That work helped you earn the award for League One PFA Community player of the year in March 2020 but unfortunately soon after that the community work was cancelled due to the Covid breakout. You must have been very proud of the work that you did alongside the likes of Keith, Shiv and the other staff? “I always found it important to engage with the local community and the work that the Community Trust did back then was amazing. I enjoyed going out and meeting the next generation of supporters. I remember as a kid as an Arsenal fan, meeting Ian Wright and I was in awe of seeing one of my hero’s. I’m not saying I’ve got the same appeal as Ian Wright but when we went into the schools, seeing the kids faces was fantastic. Getting the other players to go into schools was my job and that was a more difficult side of it. Always excuses why they couldn’t go but I always managed to get them to do the school visits”
Any Dale fan in the room today that has travelled to an away game when you was playing for the Club will know about your biggest cheerleader, your dad! He travelled to almost, if not every game that you were involved in even if he knew you were on the bench? “He certainly wasn’t my biggest cheerleader! Biggest critic yes, cheerleader definitely not! He would always find criticism in even my best games but I suppose that helped me become the player and the person I am today”