Gareth McAuley's road to Premier League success

It's a long way from Larne to Loftus Road.

And former draughtsman Gareth McAuley has plotted a scenic route from part-time football to the Premier League. But having negotiated his way from a nine-five office job in County Antrim to football's most prestigious league, the Albion defender insists his career still has a way to go to reach journey's end.

A deep-thinking, engaging character, the 31-year-old Northern Ireland captain rejected a move to Tottenham at the age of 16 to pursue academic studies in his homeland.

A decade-and-a-half on, he has finally made his way to the Premier League and remains convinced he made the right decisions as a teenager.

"I made a decision that I would stay at home, stay at school and go down that route," said McAuley. "When you do that doors close because you're not in a football environment 24-7 as other young lads are.

"But I had a lot of friends that did go to England and are all back in Northern Ireland now because they didn't make the grade.

"I was always playing games and when they were playing youth team football I was playing against men and learning the hard way.

"It was a close call. I had the chance to go to a London club, and being from a small town I didn't fancy London very much.

"I was a bit of a home-bird at the time and that's where I wanted to be. It was a tough decision to pass up that chance but I was hopeful that further down the line, when I matured, I would get another chance.

"But I knew I would have to take the long route to try to get to the top league in the world."

McAuley would eventually make his way to England with Lincoln, spending two years at Sincil Bank before arriving at The Hawthorns via Leicester and Ipswich.

But he was kept waiting for eight years between turning down Tottenham and being handed his break in the Football League.

And during his time plying his trade in Northern Ireland, McAuley had a taste of the 'real world'.

"I did my A-levels and went to university and then went out on work experience for a year," he recalled. "I decided I didn't want to finish my degree because I liked the drawing aspect of it on computers.

"Luckily the company I had been at said I had done well and if I wanted to stay and serve out my time they would love to have me.

"I did that for three years but then I decided I was being paid well enough for playing football that I could take the chance to get myself right because it was basically 'now or never'.

"So I got myself as fit as I could to make the transition as easy as possible.

I knew by then it was what I wanted to do so when the chance came there was no decision to be made.

"The only frustrating thing was that I was meant to sign for Stockport with Sammy McIlroy but that didn't happen and I ended up at Lincoln, although that probably was a better club for me based on what happened after that.

"It was a great environment to go into so I settled in quickly, started playing and started off on a journey to try to better myself.

"And I have still got some way to go. I want to play every game because I am getting to do what I have always wanted to and what I have worked so hard and made all the sacrifices for."

Tomorrow's fixture at Loftus Road will bring McAuley just his ninth appearance in the Premier League after more than 250 games in the Football League.

But the 6ft 3in tall stopper believes he is already learning fast, thanks in part to his own intense self-analysis.

"I am probably my own worst critic and I will find fault in my game," he said. "Football is about educating yourself and the faster you can learn things the faster you can progress.

"I'm hoping I can get myself a run of a few games now."