I Spoke To ...... Will Vaulks

Will Vaulks

Cardiff City FC & Welsh International

Full Name: William Robert Vaulks

Date of Birth: 13th September 1993

· You work with lots of different charities, where did all this stem from?

Growing up, my mum looked after us, when we got a bit older, she volunteered for loads of different organisations. It’s something I’ve grown up knowing about, volunteering, and making people aware of what they do.

· How did you continue this whilst at Falkirk, Rotherham and Cardiff?

I was doing the player appearances and charity stuff, like probably, three times a week at Falkirk, just different things, sometimes just speaking to kids after 5 a side tournament, it was just getting out in the community.

· When you started work with the see the NHS, how did how did that come about? Did they approach you?

I was in shop near me, my food shop, it had a poster ‘Feed the NHS’, I messaged them on Twitter. I was there every day for two months, basically collecting packages, raising money, delivering them to the hospitals, to the clinics, to the fire stations.

I just got really stuck into that, the boys (Cardiff Squad), pretty much funded the whole thing. I really enjoyed it and it kept me sane as well.

· How did the move to Falkirk come about?

I was offered a contract from January until May, they couldn't pay me any wages, all they could do was put me up in an apartment. I was on the phone to my agent, didn't take long for me to say yeah, I'd already seen the place, met the manager, I just wanted to be around full-time football. Luckily enough my mom and dad lent me some money to survive.

· Is there anything that sticks out in your in your memory of what you actually did when you got there?

Genuinely, I used to walk around Tesco’s. I used to go up every aisle in Tesco just to kill some time as I was doing my shop for some food.

· What would have been your fall-back career if you hadn’t got that chance at Falkirk?

Other than my GCSE’s, I got a distinction in the college course that we had to do with Tranmere, but I genuinely never ever had one. I think there's an argument to say you should have a plan B but also if you really want to make it you've got to put every bit of energy into that career so that's what I did.

· Do you have any pre match superstitions?

No, I'm the complete opposite of that. I remember at Tranmere, then at Falkirk, I would see the strangest things ever, tapping on the walls, tapping the top of the door on the way out. I made a conscious effort to never ever have superstitions.

· You made your debut for Wales against Trinidad Tobago. How did that feel getting that first cap?

It was unbelievable feeling; I was involved with Wales when I was a kid, like 11/12. I get a phone calling me up, it’s probably the proudest moment in my career especially for my family, my mom. unfortunately, my grandma and granddad weren't alive anymore. They’d have been extremely proud.

· What happened with Twitter?

It was a mixture of things, a lot of negativity on Twitter, a lot of opinions are allowed to be heard that maybe everyone's entitled to their opinion, but it's how you voice them. So that played a part in it. Also realising how much time I'm spending on it, just strolling through rubbish. I decided to delete it for a bit, see how I got on. I'm disappointed because I enjoy engagement with people, also raising awareness for charities for good stuff going on, being positive.

· Where did the somersault come from? Can we talk about that celebration by Patterson?

I was just a kid that was very adventurous growing up, used to try things on the trampoline, I could always do a backflip on there. I scored Falkirk, a long ranger, it was my first goal for them, I was like I'm just going to do it. Then once I've done it, I kept doing it every goal. Obviously, me and Patts get on really well, it's banter from him doing it after me.

· Who's got the worst music taste in the squad?

Leo (Bacuna) listens to some bad music. He puts his earphones in and listens to it, he wouldn't put it on in front of everyone

Will Vaulks in action for the Bluebirds vs Middlesborough