Watford’s Andre Gray admits it was boyhood dream to play for Wolves

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Wolves take on Watford in the FA Cup semi-finals this afternoon.

Watford striker Andre Gray has told the Harrow Times that it was ‘hard to take’ when Wolverhampton Wanderers released him as a youngster.

After Manchester City beat Brighton and Hove Albion 1-0 on Saturday evening, the other FA Cup semi-final takes place at Wembley later today, with Watford and Wolves meeting.

The two sides are attempting to sneak into a European spot this season by finishing seventh in the Premier League table, with both teams earning huge praise this term.

Now though, they go head to head with a place in the FA Cup final up for grabs, and the game will mean even more to Hornets striker Gray.

The 27-year-old was born in Wolverhampton and started his career with Wolves, but was released at the age of just 13, meaning he had to move on to Shrewsbury Town and start again.

Gray has moved up the leagues over the years, and has now had three successive seasons in the Premier League, at least proving Wolves wrong about him in some way.

Now, Gray has admitted that he supported Wolves in some way but kind of moved on to being on Arsenal fan, adding that today’s game means ‘a bit extra’ to him.

Gray noted that he’s not holding any grudges against Wolves, but it was his boyhood dream to play for Wolves, and found it tough to take when he was released as a kid, so don’t be surprised if we see a Gray celebration if he scores today.

“It’s part of football, I’m not holding no grudges,” said Gray. “”It wouldn’t have made me who I am today, I don’t know where I’d have ended up. It’s how it is. That bit of point proving has gone now. It’s tough to take, but I think it’s more of a gutting feeling. It’s a boyhood dream and hard to take when you’re young.”

“Yeah, I sort of supported Wolves, but then Thierry Henry was about and I kind of moved on to Arsenal, but as I got older again I started to not really support anyone, just the love of the game in general. It’s a bit special for me, being from there growing up there and obviously everyone I know from there are Wolves supporters, so it has got that bit extra for me, but at the end of the day, it’s a semi final so it means the same regardless of who we play,” he added.