³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

Hertfordshire-based David Clarke is the captain of Britain's Football five-a-side team. At almost 42 years old, David is their most experienced player and the only member of the current squad to have represented Great Britain at the last Games in Beijing 2008; the first time this sport appeared in the Paralympics.

The game of 5-a-side football at the Paralympics is played by blind and visually impaired athletes, who all wear two layers of eye shades to make certain none of the four visually impaired players can see a thing; this makes everyone equal.

The area of play is smaller than a regular football pitch and surrounded by boards.

The fifth player on the pitch is the goalkeeper who is sighted. A further sighted person directs blind players from behind the goal. The ball is heavier than a regular football and filled with ball-bearings to make it rattle so the players can hear it.

Clarke is the team's dominant striker. Paralympics aside, He has played in no less than five World Cups and six European championships, scoring 127 goals in 140 matches.

Before taking to the football pitch, Clarke represented his country in the blind person's sport of goalball when he competed at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games.

Minutes before David was whisked away to the Olympic Village, Tony Garrett asked him our 13 questions.

My earliest memory is ...
Looking down in to the garden from my bedroom window when I still had a bit of sight. I remember seeing my sisters so my sight must have been pretty good. That was when I was about one year old.

The three words I would use to describe myself are ...
Passionate, determined and tenacious.

A little known fact about me is ...
I speak Dutch.

Given half a chance, I would relish the opportunity to bore you stupid about ...
Steam trains. I used to go around all the old sheds looking at steam trains with my dad as a kid, jumping on the footplates and getting really excited about seeing engines like the Mallard and Flying Scotsman. Really amusingly to me now, my kids are doing the same thing.

I cannot resist ...
Crisps. Cheese and onion is my favourite. But I've had to resist them for the last six months and it has been really hard!

I'd like to ban ...
Smoking. It is really annoying that now, if you want to go to a pub and sit in the garden, all you can smell is smoke.

My greatest achievement so far is ...
My golden boot at the last European championships in Turkey, when I scored a hat trick in the final game to make it happen.

Before I die I'd like to ...
Achieve everything I ever desired.

My ideal dinner guest would be ...
My wife. She is fantastic company, my best friend and great to have around.

My first job was ...
As a commission only, computer cleaning-fluid salesman in Camden. After getting a degree in politics and a masters in diplomacy, I lasted two days at the job and thought I might be able to do something better. I'm now a senior partner in Clydesdale bank.

After the Paralympics I will ...
Support the sponsors. So a 24 hour marathon at McDonalds will be required.

Someone should invent ...
A car that I can drive, but I think an unnamed search engine is pretty close to that already. If not that, then something which could teleport me to wherever I need to be.

Lighting the Paralympic cauldron at the opening ceremony was ...
A real privilege and the proudest moment of my sporting life.

• 5-a-side football continues at the Paralympics today, when Britain take on Argentina at the Riverbank Arena at 15:30.