Ray Winstone is about as close as we’re going to get to a national treasure. Since bursting onto the screen in Scum he’s worked his way up from rock hard anti-hero in Borstal to action man in Indiana Jones. Now he presents a slightly cheeky hymn of praise to his and the nation’s favourite sport, football, in Ray Winstone's Football Blinders & Blunders, this year’s hottest Christmas stocking-filler DVD with blinding goals, unbelievable blunders, brilliant free-kicks, nightmare misses, players going bonkers, and moments of mind-blowing magic, that's out now. We caught up with him and tried not to ask, “who’s the daddy?”

So what’s Football Blinders & Blunders? It seems a bit of departure.

It was something I was approached to do - I’ve never thought about doing it myself. The people who do these kind of things are very good at it, you know what I mean? Plus I don’t want to stand there blatantly taking the p*ss out of professional people. I think they do that very well on their own. So I ummed and aahed a bit. But then again I’ve got a passion for football and that appeals. And it’s another way of earning a living - don’t leave that out.

So it¹s like a pub conversation?

Exactly. It always comes round to the same conversation,¬ we stand in pubs and talk about politics or what happened down the street that day and then it comes round to that same old thing, someone’s a Tottenham fan, someone’s an Arsenal fan and there¹s me the West Ham fan. Friends and enemies are made over that kind of chat. I support a team that doesn’t win European cups but I’m a geezer who stands at the side of a game that he loves and has his own opinion about it. So I love a chat about the events of the weekend, someone who missed an open goal or someone who missed a penalty.

Like, my favourite one we cover is Peres with that penalty when Arsenal found another way of taking a penalty other than kicking it into the back of the net. They thought they’d pass the ball - how ridiculous! It’s that kind of pompousness that only the French can have. It’s mixed in with a bit of genius as well. It would have been a great goal if it came off, but it never did, so good luck.

How far back do you go?

Not that far. There’s so much scope. We have a go at Jans Lehman, Arsenal’s German keeper who never stopped moaning. Then Barthes in goal for Man United. There’s so much you can use. I didn’t want to just have all the animals, I wanted to have some class players as well. There’s some great moments with Alan Shearer, one of my favourite centre forwards. He knew how to kick a ball. There are some blinding moments of Shearer at 35 yards on the volley which I just think is magic. Then I add my own opinion and there’s a little chat about what football means to you and why and the area you’re from so that people know your form and can agree or disagree with you. Because I don’t know anything. It’s just my opinion.

Do you remember your first game?

My actual first game of football was at Southend. My nan used to live in Shoeburyness and my Uncle Len took me to Southend. My first real image of West Ham was standing at the bottom of my street, Caister Park Road in Plaistow, and a coach came by with the 1964 West Ham team who’d just won the cup at Preston North End. All the kids down the end of the road were blowing bubbles.

When I was a kid you always supported the team in your area. It’s not like today where kids see Man Utd win the European cup and support them even though they come from Harlow. It was about your manor. You had kids from your school playing for West Ham.

That was important - it made you think you had a chance in life to get out there and do something. It was motivation. And I think that’s the big thing missing - its great to see these world class players but there was always something special about seeing the kid from down the road who turned out for your local club, played in an FA cup final and maybe played for England one day.

I think that’s what it was about, but I’m old fashioned.

Do you still go to games?

I haven’t been down this season. The previous two years I’ve had a box there for the family, but this year I ain’t got it. I’ve been away all year. I haven’t seen a game, which is unusual for me. I missed them for a season or so when I got banned from there and when they let me back in I banned myself. I get the hump that a normal working man can’t take his sons to the football any more. It’s going to cost him more than one and a half and that’s before the popcorn and the hot dog. It’s a bit of what Roy Keane says, the prawn sandwich crowd. When you come out to the second half to watch the game there’s still empty seats because they’re still in the lounge when there are kids from the local school who could have watched the game.

You used to be a boxer when you were younger - how abut a football player?

I wasn’t a great player. I was a bit dirty up front with the elbows. I’d probably get sent off every week if I played now. I wasn’t a dirty tackler.

I was more like a rugby player - I’d push them off with my hands. But I played alright. I loved it.

I’m lucky enough because of the business that I’m in that I’ve played at Wembley 11 times. I’ve played against Bobby Moore who marked me in a game and I scored two goals at Wembley - although one was against Jess Conrad so you can’t really count that.

Do your girls, Jamie and Lois, take an interest?

They didn’t have a choice to be honest. As soon as they were born they were wrapped in claret and blue. I remember the first time I took Jamie to a football match she sat next to Martin Peters and he explained the whole game to her. He’s a lovely man. So my little Jamie, that was her introduction to football: at West Ham sitting next to a god. My Lois has been coming with me for years and even my little one, the 7 year-old, has her West Ham pyjamas.

Did you ever try to stop them going into acting?

Nah I’ve been a very lucky boy. I’ve travelled the world, met people I never would have met. Why would I stop them having that?

Does the attention that’s paid to them get to you?

I tell them not to go where the photographers hang around. Some kids court attention but they don’t. Being my daughters, well, it’s probably opened a few doors for them but it’s also probably acted against them. They might feel they’re only getting attention because of that. I think they stand on their own two feet. They have to be good at what they do because you don’t get the work if you’re not good enough.

What’s it like working them?

I’ve just done a film with Lois down in Salisbury called Fathers of Girls with Lois playing my daughter. It deals with the fears of a father for his daughters. It had a right family feel, and it was like the old days, guerrilla film making, turn up, get it done, good long scenes.

I’ve worked with Jamie too, but they’re hard work to work with, my girls.

They’re always telling you that you’re not doing it right. Bossy girls - but I love it.

Do you think its different being a father these days?

I don’t know. I think dads and daughters through the ages girls love their dads and dads worry about their daughters. I don’t think anything’s changed.

We say it’s a more dangerous world out there but I was born 12 years after the Second World War and I played on bombed houses. I’m going to start sounding like Monty Python now, but before that there were kids being brought up in London as it was being bombed. Imagine the fears you have where you actually send your kids away.

So what else is coming up?

I’ve got a film coming out called 44-inch Chest by the people who did Sexy Beast. It’s got Ian McShane, John Hurt, Joanne Whalley. I think it’s going to be something special. And I’ve just done a film with Mel Gibson called Edge of Darkness. It’s a thriller, it looks blinding and Mel Gibson’s terrific in it.

Do you ever stand on Spielberg’s set or Mel Gibson’s film and think, what am I doing here?

Yeah of course you do. I’m out of Plaistow. There’s no reason I should be here. It seems like yesterday I got thrown out of drama school and look at this - this is all right isn’t it? You have to pinch yourself. I’m having a ball at the moment really. I’ve got everything around me that I need. Life can be tough at times but when it’s good it’s good. We’ll have tough times again, everyone does, but at the moment we’re having a laugh.

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