3/1 To Win
Derby County’s monthly magazine, The Rampage, released its ninth edition earlier this week - and it is once again jam-packed full of exclusive interviews and club-centric content.
In May’s edition, we caught up with former Rams defender, Shaun Barker, following the re-release of his clothing line ‘With The Gods’ that you can find in the DCFCMegastore.
Since his retirement from playing in 2018, the self-proclaimed ‘reluctant footballer’ has certainly kept himself busy with his football-meets-fashion clothing brand, working with RamsTV, keeping up with his foundation’s charitable work and a full-time job in Burton Albion’s academy.
Here is an extract from the interview with Barker that spans seven pages in the latest edition that you can read exclusively in The Rampage…
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In those early days of his recovery, music took the former central defender’s mind away from having his leg hooked up to a rehabilitation machine for several hours a day. It became his refuge. Even a person as positive and bubbly as Barker, music has helped to be that escape from the world of football.
“I think subconsciously that sort of stuff took my mind off my recovery, injury and football at times too,” Barker explained. “I was good at disassociating myself from the bad times in football, which in theory I should have had quite a bit, but I actually quite enjoyed my recovery to get back on the pitch because I had a goal and a focus.
“I was very reluctant to spend any money that I made playing on myself, it was always about trying to provide the best life for my family moving forward. I never really treated myself or went around in flashy cars or nice watches and all these materialistic things you see footballers with. When I got injured, I got myself a nice record player and my first set of proper vinyl. I’d threatened it for years, but never got round to it and it was a big part of the process. I was on a machine for 12 hours a day for the first four or five months, so I was pretty much bed bound. I used to get my wife to put on a record and every 30 minutes or so I would have to shout her back to switch it over for me. There was definitely an element of therapy in there.”
He continued: “I am pretty good in terms of my emotions and anyone who knows me knows I am a pretty positive person. Those little moments when you are on your own and put a record on just elevate into an ulterior world. It was something that helped me along the way, and even after bad games – if you have pride in how you perform and you care about the club and the fans you should be affected by it and it is the ability to use something to take that focus away.”
For the full article and other exclusive content, CLICK HERE to purchase your copy of The Rampage.
