'If I hadn't gone to jail, I'd be dead now. It was the hard reset I needed' Troy Deeney on prison, management and THAT Watford goal

"Troy Deeney had been out of prison for just nine months when he scored the goal he's most remembered for. The frontman would later find the net nearly 50 times in the Premier League, but he'll forever be associated with Sky commentator Bill Leslie and his iconic cry of DEEEEEENEY!, as he slammed home a 97th-minute play-off semi-final winner for Watford in 2013, 20 seconds after Anthony Knockaert had missed a penalty that would have clinched it for Leicester at the other end. It's one of the great Football League moments."

"You can call it that, I can't! Deeney laughs, attempting to remain modest as he sits down with FourFourTwo. In the moment, I was so calm it felt like everything slowed down, like you see in the movies. I thought, Just kick it straight and I'll score'. As soon as it hit the net, it felt like an eruption of noise. The celebration was wild."

"Plenty of other things had been wild about Deeney's life until that point, too in his younger days, he admits he was a very different person. You may like God, you wouldn't have been having this conversation with me, let's put it that way! he says. A lifelong Birmingham fan, he was expelled from school but could have joined rivals Aston Villa, had he turned up for all of the four-day trial. At 15, yeah, he explains. I was trying to be the cool kid. My mates were down at the local park playing football, a few of them smoked. I knew all of the birds were there and it was summer holidays, so I didn't want to go to Villa. I knew on the last day of the trial that there was a match, so I turned up on the first day and the last day, that was it. My brother was already at Villa so it wouldn't have been that bad playing for them I didn't have a Blues tattoo at that point! I just wasn't in the right headspace for it. Instead, Deeney was soon playing for non-league Chelmsley Town. I played central midfield at first, I loved a tackle, had loads of energy and enjoyed passing the ball, hitting big diagonals, he says. I was 16"

Troy Deeney scored a 97th-minute play-off semi-final winner for Watford in 2013 and became forever linked to Bill Leslie's iconic DEEEEEENEY! cry. He had been released from prison nine months earlier and went on to score nearly 50 Premier League goals. Deeney described feeling calm as the decisive moment slowed down and celebrated wildly after the goal. He recounted a turbulent youth, being expelled from school and almost joining Aston Villa before missing much of a four-day trial. He moved into non-league football with Chelmsley Town and initially played in central midfield, enjoying tackles and long diagonal passes.

Read at www.fourfourtwo.com