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Unlike Bob Latchford in 1978, I didn’t receive a cheque for £10,000 when I won the Golden Boot in 1998.
In fact, I didn’t get a penny. My contract with Blackburn Rovers didn’t contain any lucrative performance-related clauses.
The only goal bonus I ever had was at Norwich City, where I would receive £500 every time I scored — as long as we didn’t lose. I’m still smarting today about the time I got two in a 5-4 defeat by Southampton!
But I did get something money can’t buy. I got a story to tell the grandchildren. How Grandad was once the top goalscorer with Michael Owen and Dion Dublin. How Grandad belongs to a list that includes Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland and so many other greats. How Grandad scored in the 88th minute against Newcastle on the final day of the season to do it.
It was a central free-kick, 20 yards out, and I thundered it so hard it nearly broke Shay Given’s hand. Ewood Park erupted. My team-mates piled on top of me in the celebrations at my 18th strike of the season because it meant Blackburn won 1-0 and qualified for Europe.
Chris Sutton won the Premier League Golden Boot in 1998 after scoring 18 times for Blackburn
He sealed a 1-0 win over Newcastle to take Blackburn to Europe on the final day of the season
As a Golden Boot winner, Sutton is in the company of some of the Premier League's greatest ever legends. Pictured: Arsenal icon Thierry Henry, who won the award a record four times
All that happened 26 years ago today — May 10, 1998. They are memories to last a lifetime. It may not pay for my weekly shop, but that’s a currency I’m more than happy with.
My Golden Boot now lives on the mantelpiece in my lounge. Cliche, I know, and at the risk of making my home sound like a shrine, it isn’t alone.
My dad, Mike, was a former professional footballer himself. Growing up, any awards he won were on display. I loved looking at them and imagined him when he won them. I so wanted to follow in his footsteps and thought that dream had died when I was rejected by Norwich aged 12.
Maybe that’s why I don’t mind having mine out in the open, too, because of how much it made me admire my dad and the fact I never thought I’d win what I did. I can look at them and think: ‘Bloody hell, I didn’t do too bad.’
