Manchester City (2007-2012)
I was nine-years-old when I first joined Manchester City and I really enjoyed it. A lot of my friends were there at the time, which was really important and I gradually worked my way up through the youth team and reserves.
One of the big highlights for me was winning the FA Youth Cup in 2008, when we beat Chelsea in the final. That was so big for the club at the time, as we had a very good youth team back then.
Danny Sturridge was in that side along with the likes of Ben Mee, Vladimir Weiss and a few others. It was a great place to be, learning from the coaches and everything else.
Ultimately though, I never really had a chance to make it into the first team, so I went out on loan and gained that experience elsewhere…
Barnsley (2010-11)
I first went out on loan to Barnsley for six months, primarily to get some games under my belt before I pulled my hamstring and had to go back to City. But I rejoined them the season after that and had a full campaign there, where I had some great experiences. I was only a young lad then, so playing against men every week as I matured was brilliant for me.
Burnley (2012-15)
This was the turning point in my career really. I first went to Burnley on a six-month loan when Eddie Howe was the manager there and I was playing week-in and week-out in the Championship and really enjoying it.
But there was a decision to make as I came to the end of the loan spell. Obviously, it was still proving difficult to break in at City, because by then, all of the money that they had at the time meant there were lots of new players coming into the squad.
So I had a chat with Eddie at the end of the loan and I decided to move there permanently and I’ve never looked back since. I loved every minute of my time there, getting more experience game by game.
When Eddie left, Sean Dyche came in and he was a very different style of manager. Under Eddie, we were scoring lots of goals but conceding at the same time but when the new gaffer came in, we properly tightened up at the back and we made that the first priority.
He was immediately well-respected and as players, we all bought into his ideas and got promoted to the Premier League the following year. That was my first career highlight, as a lot of teams were spending big money in the Championship that season, but we were clever in the transfer market on a much smaller budget and the togetherness of the team carried us through.
We had a great bunch of lads and obviously that all came through the manager. That season, I think I had the most assists in the Championship from right-back, but the credit there goes to Sam Vokes and Danny Ings who scored all the goals between themselves.
But that’s what you’ve got to try and do these days as a full-back, create as many chances as you can. The Premier League was where I’d always wanted to play and even though the season with Burnley was a difficult one, we started poorly and didn’t score enough goals, I really enjoyed it. Sadly, we got relegated but I’d got a taste for it and wanted to stay there and I was thankful to Spurs for giving me the opportunity again at the end of that season.
Tottenham Hotspur (2015 - )
It was a great club to join for me at the time. You only had to look at the players that you were training with every day to realise that.
It was difficult when I first signed though, as I wasn’t playing as many games as I would’ve liked but then Kyle Walker was on fire for the first two seasons I was there. Me and Walks go way back, right to when we were both new boys together in the England U19s squad. So I’ve had to wait patiently and kept working hard every day, just waiting for any opportunities and now they’ve come.
England (2007 - )
I first played for England with the U18s in 2007, but my first real campaign was in 2008-09 with the U19s when we qualified for the Euro Finals out in Ukraine which was my first tournament experience. It was a great one too, we played well out there, got through a tough group and beat France in the semi-final, only to get beat in the final in Donetsk against the hosts, Ukraine. It's still disappointing when I think back to that game as we should've come back with the title, but we conceded two set-piece goals in the first half and couldn't break them down after that.
Playing for England was great for me at the time though, as I wasn’t playing for Man City and we had a strong group that season with Kyle Walker, Danny Welbeck, Andros Townsend, Danny Drinkwater and more all in that squad.
Not only was it good to get game time, but it’s always an honour to represent your country no matter what age and I really enjoyed that campaign and what I learnt from it.
I played at the U20 World Cup in Egypt the season after that, where we struggled as we had a new squad and a lot of injuries along the way and then I played a couple of games for the U21s after that, but I never thought my international career was over.
I knew I had to be playing regularly in the Premier League and once I got that at Burnley and Tottenham, I was hopeful I could eventually get a senior call-up and thankfully I have. I know that I’ve just got to keep working hard for my club and playing every week.
Trippier will be hoping to be involved in England's first games of the new season against Spain at Wembley on Saturday 8 September and Switzerland in Leicester on Tuesday 11 September. Tickets for both games are on sale now.
This interview appeared in the England matchday programme for last season's game with Germany. You can order a copy of any previous edition of the programme here to read more exclusive features.
