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    ‘I blacked out and found myself on the kitchen floor’: Tony Mowbray plotting return to football after cancer battle

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    TONY MOWBRAY has opened up about his brave battle with cancer.The 60-year-old boss was in charge of Birmingham last season before health issues forced him into resigning.Tony Mowbray has lifted the lid on his battle with bowel cancerCredit: ReutersHe replaced Wayne Rooney at St Andrews after he was sacked in January but managed just eight games due to his bowel cancer diagnosis coming a month later.Mowbray revealed his family were left fearing the worst during his worst spell in hospital.The ex-West Brom, Celtic, Middlesbrough, Blackburn and Sunderland gaffer told BBC Radio Teesside: “It’s been the toughest year of my life. “Out of the blue, my illness was diagnosed and my world came crashing down.READ MORE IN FOOTBALL”When you get an illness like what I got, it’s about the family, really. “I remember sitting in a hospital bed, my kids had tears in their eyes not sure whether I was going to get through it or not.”I was very, very ill. Some days, you were feeling great and other days, I would collapse and black out and find myself on the kitchen floor.”Mowbray underwent a ten-hour operation to save his life, which proved successful.Most read in FootballAnd the EFL legend has not given up hope on one day returning to the dugout.He said: “I do want to go back to work because football is in my blood, it’s what I do.”I still have issues, at the moment not 100 per cent ready for work.”I haven’t got the energy that is required to be a football manager. But I will, I’m pretty sure.”I’m fine in myself but it’s very difficult with the condition I’m living with at the moment. “The doctors tell me it will resolve itself in time and I look forward to that day.”I’m going to take my amazing wife away on holiday in the next couple of weeks and in the new year. “I’ll see what is out there, what opportunities come and hopefully my body is tells me I’m ready to go.” More

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      I was part of the England U21’s 1984 Euros-winning squad who became a DJ in Corfu and survived bowel and liver cancer

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      ENGLAND ended their 39-year wait for an Under-21 European Championship with victory over Spain on Saturday.The Young Lions had not tasted Euros glory since 1984 before Curtis Jones’ goal and James Trafford’s dramatic late penalty saw Lee Carsley’s men triumph in Georgia.
      England claimed their third U21 Euros title after a win over Spain on SaturdayCredit: Getty
      Nigel Callaghan, far right, won the U21 Euros with England in 1984Credit: Popperfoto
      Callaghan was a winger for the likes of Watford and Aston VillaCredit: Bob Thomas Sports Photography – Getty
      Callaghan gave up football for DJ’ingCredit: Getty – Contributor
      One player from that 1984 side was winger Nigel Callaghan – who played for Watford, Derby County and Aston Villa.
      As well as tasting glory in the U21s, he was a losing FA Cup finalist in 1985 as the Hornets came up short against Everton.
      But he retired from football before he turned 30 in an attempt to pursue a DJ career in Corfu.
      Speaking to The Guardian in 2019 about his two very different careers, he said: “I’ve never had another job. I’ve never sat in an office, done 9-5. I finished my football career early but I didn’t do bad.
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      “I played in an England Under-21 final, played in an FA Cup final, came second in the top league. There were a lot of great moments.
      “I’ve done a lot of things in my short career that a lot of players haven’t done, so I’d never complain about what I had. And I’ve done all right out of DJing, to be fair.
      “I’ve stayed in the entertainment business. There’s no way DJing can even come near scoring a winning goal or playing in front of 100,000 people but I’ve made a good life out of it. I think I’ve been quite lucky.”
      Callaghan has also battled cancer since hanging up his boots.
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      Callaghan alongside Watford superfan Elton John in the 1980sCredit: Rex Features
      Callaghan survived bowel and liver cancerCredit: Dave Pinegar – The Sun
      He was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2009 following a routine blood test – which he did as a result of suffering with arthritis.
      An operation failed to remove the tumour, before six months of chemotherapy resulted in doctors discovering the disease had spread to his liver.
      Nearly 70 per cent of his liver was removed and since then all tests have been clear.
      He said: “Do you know the worst part about cancer? And I’m pretty sure anyone who’s had it and survived will tell you. It’s not the scars and the stitches, it’s not the operations, it’s the mental scar it leaves.
      “Because even when you’re clear, you’re still thinking: ‘What if it comes back?’”
      Callaghan went on to add: “When I first went for my six-month checkup, I walked out eight times. I couldn’t do it, because I didn’t know if I had that gun with a bullet in it.
      “I’m not the same person I was before I had the cancer. I don’t want sympathy from anyone, I just get on with my life and try to have a good time.
      “I’ve been clear for more than five years now so I don’t have to go back for tests. I’m not sure I’d want to know if it came back, to be honest. I’m not sure I’d want to go through all that again. I’m a firm believer in ‘when your time’s up, your time’s up’. If I was meant to die I’d have died on that operating table.
      “People tell me: ‘You shouldn’t do this, you shouldn’t do that. You drink too much, you’re having too much salt.’ Do you change your life completely so you’re not enjoying anything you do, or do you think: ‘I’m going to enjoy myself’. You can’t cut everything out of your life.” More