 A powerful target-man centre forward, he worked in a printers and on a building site before beginning his professional career.He played for a number of non-league teams, Alvechurch, Highgate United, Tamworth, Stratford Town, Solihull Borough, Sutton Coldfield Town and Mile Oak Rovers, before joining his hometown club, Bromsgrove Rovers in late 1987.He followed Bromsgrove manager Bobby Hope to Burton Albion in 1988, from where he and Steve Cotterill joined Wimbledon in February 1989.