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Long before Tony Cascarino was a Republic of Ireland international appearing in back-to-back World Cups, he was a promising young player trying to balance training-ground life with jobs on building sites and in hairdressing salons.

Cascarino’s career would later include spells with Chelsea and Marseille, but at 18 he was drifting away from football.

Yet a series of random meetings, good fortune and one heavy tackle would change his life for ever.

Cascarino was 19 when he got the chance to sign for Gillingham in 1982, and the striker admits he believed he had missed his opportunity to become a professional footballer.

“Definitely,” he tells FourFourTwo. “I had even stopped playing for a football club for three years. From 16 to 18 I was working as a hairdresser and also with my dad on building sites. I worked all day every Saturday, and then I would play football on Sunday for teams I was not even registered with.

“A local friend of my dad’s at non-league Crockenhill eventually said I should go for a trial there. I went as a centre-half, did alright, and the manager said I could train with them. In one match, our striker broke his leg and the manager asked if I could do a job up front. I gave it a try and scored a hat-trick away at Erith & Belvedere in the Kent league.”

The way he ended up moving to Gillingham was also a case of the now 63-year-old making the most of a rare opening.

“Our sponge man at Crockenhill was the brother-in-law of Keith Peacock, who was then the manager of Gillingham,” Cascarino continues. “Keith agreed to come and watch me play against Chatham Town in the Medway. I did not play well, but he asked me to come on trial for Gillingham reserves against the first team.

I took the money out of the bank and spread it on the carpet in my mum and dad’s house. I was just so proud of what I had achieved

“I went there with my boots in a plastic bag, straight off the building site. I laugh now because the centre-half at Gillingham at the time was Steve Bruce. There was one incident that made Keith think there was something in me. A cross came in from the right. Me and Brucie went up for it, and I clattered him and got my head on it – the keeper made a great save. That was enough for Keith to offer me a one-year contract, just to see.

“Six weeks after that, I signed a three-year deal. I had got into the first team, and after three or four weeks of hard training, I was a completely different player. I was athletic, I could cover the pitch, I had a good leap. I had gone from £100 a week to £205 and also got a £6,000 signing-on fee. I took the money out of the bank and laid it out on the carpet in my mum and dad’s house. I was just so proud of what I had achieved.”

Cascarino would then score on his home debut, getting the last goal in a thumping win over Wimbledon, another occasion when the future Ireland star made the most of a late change in circumstances.

“It is a funny story actually,” he recalls. “For that game against Wimbledon, I was listed as the 13th man – in those days it was only 11 players plus one substitute, so I was not supposed to play. The meeting time at the stadium was 1.45pm, for a 3pm kick-off. I reached the station at 12.15pm and thought, ‘I am not even playing today.’ There was a Wimpy nearby, just a 100-yard walk away. I sat down and thought, ‘I will have a double Wimpy and chips.’ When I had finished, there were still 20 minutes to spare before I even needed to start moving, so I had a knickerbocker glory too.

“When I got to the stadium, I found out that one of the team had fallen ill overnight, so I had to be the substitute with all that food in my stomach. And of course, after 15 minutes, a lad called Dean White picked up a bad injury and had to be stretchered off. On I came, and I played well. We won 6-1 and I scored my first goal. Maybe modern players should look into that diet more.”