FQ So, Rio, what’s it like being a football superstar as well as a dad? How do you

find time for it all in between living the glamorous lifestyle that goes with being

a Manchester United and England player?

RF “You’re joking! People have a vision of

what footballers do in their spare time and it’s nothing like that. I’m not in nightclubs every

night, that’s for sure.

“I spend a lot of time looking after my two boys, Lorenz and Tate, who was only born in August. But also listening to music and watching Corrie and EastEnders. That’s all I do! I’m an avid fan. I always make sure I get home in time. It’s quite a simple life for me.”

FQ You’re kidding us, right? It didn’t look like that on Footballers’ Wives!

RF “Yeah, people think footballers have a

flash lifestyle. But most of the top players at

the top teams haven’t got the time to be

going on the red carpet for new movies

and big fancy nightclubs.

Our lives are quite boring compared to what

people expect.”

FQ So would you recommend being

a footballer to your lads?

RF “Definitely. I’ve got a little lad of two-and-a-half years old now who loves football

– he’s always kicking a football around. 

I’m trying to make him into a footballer, so

if anyone wants to place a bet on the next footballer coming through then he’ll be the one. Go to Ladbrokes and put money on it!”

FQ What would your advice be to kids out there trying to make it?

RF “To always work hard and to always enjoy football. I just love playing the game, that’s

why I do it. I was always taught as a kid, you

get out of football what you put in. So if you work hard in training, you get more out of it

on a Saturday. That’s good advice. You have

to keep repeating training methods until it comes naturally, do it day-in day-out until it becomes second nature and you do it

more naturally in games.” Ú

FQ Your boys are only young but it’s pretty tough on the streets for older kids these days if the newspapers are to be believed. There are so many stories of violence and stabbings and gang warfare. You grew up on an estate in Peckham and you must

have seem some of that. Is that why you

put your name to the government’s anti-knife campaign?

RF “Yeah, that’s part of it. I know what it’s like. I didn’t carry a knife when I was young but was around people who did. For children it’s peer pressure or some think it’s for their own safety, which is wrong, and some because they want to be the big, bad tough guy, which is wrong.

“Me and my brother were fortunate in that we had goals in life and wanted to go out and play football – some kids don’t have that.

“For a lot of them boredom sets in and if you’re in with the wrong crowd there is peer pressure and you end up with fatalities. Anything we can do to stop it is a good thing.”

FQ Is it true you went to the same school as Stephen Lawrence, the young boy so tragically killed in London in 1993?

RF “Yeah, that’s true. I went to the same school, he was a bit older than me. I’ll never forget the day when the headmaster brought the school to a halt and said he had been killed.

“It was a crazy atmosphere, very sombre and chilling. Something like that does hit home how easy it is. One day he was walking around, enjoying life and talking about doing art A-level and the next day he’s gone.

“He was unfortunate – in the wrong place at the wrong time ­– and ended up being killed. A lot of the kids at that time in my school were made more aware of the fatalities of carrying a knife and steered away from it.

“But it’s not easy for everyone. As I say, a lot of it is down to boredom. A lot of kids have keys to their house, their parents aren’t there and they have a couple of hours to chill by themselves. In those hours they can get up to all sorts of mischief. A lot does happen with kids getting into the wrong crowd – it starts with them maybe nicking something from the shop and it can end up escalating into something a lot more sinister.

“That’s why I think the new rules that carrying a knife can see you end up in prison are good. It’s a good deterrent.

“If a kid knows he’s going to go to prison for a couple of years of his young life he’s going to think twice. When I was growing up, the deterrent wasn’t there.” Ú

FQ You’ve recently passed the infamous 30 barrier so people will probably start talking about your retirement next!

RF “I hope not – I’ve got a few years left in me yet. At this time of my career I’ve always been told by the likes of Alvin Martin, Iain Dowie and Slaven Bilic at West Ham, and obviously all the managers that I’ve had after that, that 28, 29, 30, the next few years of my career, can be the most fruitful. I’m starting to see that now.

“I think probably for the last two years I’ve been consistent and played the best football of my career. I’ve just got to maintain that. I’ve been working very hard on and off the pitch on my physical and mental stuff. I just want to continue in the same direction I’m heading now and hopefully it will lead to more success at club and international level.”

FQ You say you’ve been working hard on the training pitch. Does that mean you can still improve?

RF “Definitely. I still say that I want to work on things in my game in the same way I did when I was 18 – heading, passing, certain aspects of reading the game, defending crosses and so on. I try to work on it and if I ever stop doing that I will know that my level has dropped and that’s what I’m scared of.