'He'd do the tops and I'd do the bottoms,' says Billy Bonds, recalling his days cleaning windows with his dad, Arthur, long before he became a West Ham United legend.
It was not for him, nor was his time spent working in a factory. Bonds found that so boring, he would hide in the toilets during his shift.
With his father's blessing, he quit to focus on football at 16. What an inspired leap of faith that turned out to be, with West Ham officially naming the Billy Bonds Stand on Saturday.
Billy Bonds will have the East Stand at the London Stadium named after him on Saturday
Bonds succeeded Bobby Moore as captain in 1974 and made a club-record 799 appearances
He was known as a no-nonsense player during his time with the east London club
'I wish my old dad was here now,' he says as he contemplates what it means to be joining Bobby Moore and Sir Trevor Brooking in having the honour bestowed upon him.
'He'd have loved it.
'I had that window-cleaning round, then I became a footballer and a little bit famous. He used to walk round with his chest puffed out and the old ladder on his shoulder. Proud as punch he was. I just loved competing and playing. It was in my blood.'
Bonds is now 72 but still fighting fit. The hairstyle has not changed and he is the perfect gentleman over the course of an hour-long interview about his career.
Bonds gave up working as a window cleaner - with his dad's blessing - to become a footballer
He says his father would be immensely proud of his achievement, saying 'he'd have loved it'
He made a club-record 799 appearances for West Ham and won Hammer of the Year four times, the first in 1971 and the last in 1987. Bonds, or 'Bonzo' as he became known, succeeded Moore as captain in 1974, won two FA Cups and played his last match at the age of 41 years and 226 days.
What stood out was his no-nonsense attitude. Indeed, proof of his courage for younger readers is only a Google search away as pictures show him bandaged (right), some with blood trickling down his face.
So it may come as a surprise to hear Bonds possibly missed his calling as a dancer.
Team-mate Bryan 'Pop' Robson's father-in-law was champion ballroom dancer Lennie Heppell and West Ham boss Ron Greenwood brought him in to teach the team balance in the Seventies.
'You know what? He said I had great balance, which I was amazed at,' Bonds recalls. 'Managers try anything sometimes and it was a new thing. Somebody brought in a karate fella and we ended up with about four groin injuries, so that one went out of the
