The Maccabees

The Maccabees guitarist Felix White talks Fulham, Simon Morgan and a dislike of Man Utd's success.

Ahead of a gig in Turkey, skysports.com caught up with The Maccabees guitarist Felix White to talk Fulham, Simon Morgan and '(What's The Story?) Morning Glory'

With a third album and latest single due out at the beginning of January, The Maccabees are set to be busy men in 2012. A headline UK tour will also kick-off in the New Year and so, ahead of a gig in Turkey, skysports.com was happy to grab a chance to talk football with guitarist Felix White.

Fulham

I first went because I was pestering my dad about going to football. They were in division three at the time and I was maybe about 11 years old. My dad hated football and did not want anything to do with it. He told us how to get there. I got a couple of my mates from school, told them what it was like and it was what we did on a Saturday afternoon.

Chelsea 1 Sunderland 1 - 9/3/1992

It was an FA Cup quarter-final and my uncle took me to the game. I remember John Byrne, the Sunderland striker, had scored in every round of the cup, I think. I remember seeing the pitch for the first time and as we walked into the stand I got a glimpse of the corner flag at the Shed End. I was overawed by that experience. Sunderland went on to beat Chelsea in the replay.

Simon Morgan

He was playing for Fulham from the time we started going to watch, when it was just a couple of thousand people in Division Three, through to when Kevin Keegan was manager and we went up to the Premier League. I will always have an affinity for Simon Morgan. He was a proper centre-back and a real organiser. He made the best out of everything he had.

Manchester United's success

From an early age, I realised there was something I did not like about seeing Manchester United win and I still feel like that. When I first started getting into football, United had won the Premier League for the first time in 1992/93. There was something really smug about them, something that they thought they had regained their place that they rightfully deserved. I just do not like their attitude.

Dream debut

I went to a new primary school when I was about seven years old. It is a scary experience when you are that young and do not know anyone. I was rubbish at football, but I played tennis-ball football on my first day. The Football Gods must have known the way for me to be accepted at the new school was to score some goals. I scored eight in a lunchtime. I think a couple went in off my shin. From then on, I was fine at school. But I never scored again and they figured out I was rubbish.

Bollingbroke Eagles

I played for a local club and a couple of schools. I played full-back. But I was not big enough and, as people got bigger and more competitive, I realised I much preferred watching football and shouting at it than actually participating. People were better than me, quicker than me and the place for me was as a fan.

Europa League final defeat - 2009/10

It was the first serious moment that something like that has happened to me as a Fulham fan. I went to the final and a few of the matches earlier in the competition. From the moment that Diego Forlan scored that late goal in extra-time, there was a surreal numbness. All the flights home got delayed and there were all these Fulham fans in an airport like sardines. It went from the most euphoric day to the worst in the space of about 30 seconds.

(What's The Story?) Morning Glory, Oasis

For very obvious reasons, when you are 11 years old, it was really appealing. Oasis say you can be anything you want to be and that the world is available to everyone. That is great to hear when you are that age. Great songs as well, I still love it. The first single I bought, to balance it out, and I do not know why I liked this, was Eternal's 'Power Of A Woman'! The Maccabees release new album 'Given To The Wild' on 9th January 2012. The first single will be 'Pelican', which is released on 2nd January. For more information, visit www.themaccabees.co.uk