13 Questions: Danny Wallace

by Ouch Team

13th August 2009

In 1995 Danny Wallace was forced to retire from a high-profile career as a professional footballer. He played for Southampton, Manchester United and England before a constant stream of injuries resulted in early retirement from the game. A diagnosis of multiple sclerosis followed.

Since then, Danny has started his own foundation to help people with MS, written a book about his life and become an ambassador for the National Association for Disabled Supporters (NADS) and Kick it Out, an organisation aiming to stop racism in football. As the season kicks off in earnest, we ask Danny - someone who knows all about being a disabled sports fanatic - to answer Ouch's 13 Questions.

People think I'm ...

Very very rich, which I am not. If I were playing now I would be. They also think I'm healthy until they see me walk or listen to me speak. A lot of people haven't heard of MS

I want to ban ...

Smoking and illegal recreational drugs. I have used marijuana to ease some of my pain and at the risk of being seen as a hypocrite, I think it did help me a hell of a lot.

The best piece of advice I would pass on is ...

Live your life as well as you can, while you can, because you never know what is around the corner. I would have liked to have played more for England and to have won a few more trophies but I can't complain.

Not a lot of people know that ...

My real name is David Lloyd Wallace. My dad really liked Danny but my mum wanted me to be named after one of her brothers. In time, Danny just stuck.

I struggle with ...

My walking. It is really bad. I use a cane now on long walks and that is a hell of a struggle.

I excel at ...

Bringing up my youngest child. He is 14 now and we get on really well. He comes to me more than he does his mum. He is such a joy. I wasn't really there for my two older kids because I was always playing football.

I couldn't live without ...

My telly. I'm a sports fanatic but don’t get to a lot of games so I watch them at home. Because of my difficulty walking, a lot of the grounds now don’t have the facilities to cater for me. I went to a game in Blackburn and had to walk up 4 flights of stairs to my seat.

My ideal dinner guest would be ...

Mohamed Ali. He was such a hero to me. Just the way he talked, the way he did his professional boxing. It would be nice to sit down and talk to him and listen to all his stories.

If I didn't live in the UK, I'd live in ...

Barbados. My wife of 30 years and I had our honeymoon there. I’d love to have a little place there and get the sun on my back. it really does help the MS.

Where do you spend most of your time?

When I'm not at home I'm in the gym. I go a couple of times a week. My mate looks after me there, training me and strengthening my legs.

My first job was ...

I've never had a job outside football. From age 8 it was in my mind that that was what I wanted to be and when I Signed at 16 for South Hampton I knew football would be my life.

I started the foundation because …

I wanted to give something back to people who suffer from multiple sclerosis. It all started in 2006 when I walked the London marathon. It took me five and a half days. I had about 30 people walking with me and the public were absolutely brilliant. It was an incredible experience, even if I was laid up for a couple of days afterwards.

I became an ambassador for NADS because …

Stadiums now are not really equip to hold a lot of disabled supporters and where they do hold some of them is ridiculous. When it is raining they get soaked, they can’t see the games and it is just not comfortable. If you have someone like me who is disabled as well but who can see the point of view of the clubs, maybe things can get done.

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