You can take Guy Branston out of Leicester but you can't take 'Les-tah' out of Guy Branston.
Sixteen years after he began his career with his beloved hometown club, and 481 appearances and 19 clubs later, the 35-year-old defender has finally called time on his playing days, but life could be about to come full circle for Branston.
His career has taken him all over the country, from Rotherham, to Sheffield, Oldham, Peterborough, Nottingham, Torquay, Bradford, Aldershot and Plymouth, but while he and his football boots have been wandering, his heart has remained in Leicester and he hopes to join City's academy coaching staff under the guidance of his former district junior coach Jon Rudkin.
"I love Les-tah," says Branston in a thick Leicestershire accent. "It was fantastic growing up in Leicester. We had a great junior league around here and I was in the same age group as Emile Heskey.
"My club, Narborough & Littlethorpe, always seemed to come up against Ratby, who had Emile in their ranks. Even then everyone knew all about him and how good he was.
"I was confident and thought I could cope against him and, in some games, I did, in others I didn't."
It was during one clash with Heskey that Branston caught the eye of City scouts who were watching the future England striker.
Branston's dream of signing for City came true, although ultimately he was unable to break into the first team.
"I had a fantastic coach in David Nish and it was great coming through the academy," added Branston.
"He made me realise that football was a serious job and I had to knuckle down, which I did, and I was offered schoolboy forms and then an apprenticeship.
"I started to get in and around the reserves and then the first team, and it was great as a Leicester lad.
"It was impossible to get into that first team though because we had the likes of Steve Walsh, Matt Elliott and Gerry Taggart back then. They were great players to learn from but it soon became apparent I wasn't going to break through.
"To be fair, I wasn't ready for the Premier League then. I was raw."
After loan spells with Rushden & Diamonds, Colchester, Plymouth, Lincoln and Rotherham, Branston eventually moved to Rotherham in 1999 without making a City appearance, but he fulfilled one ambition with the Millers two years later.
"Rotherham were promoted to the Championship and I got to play at the King Power Stadium against City, which was an amazing experience," he said.
"To go there as an underdog and face City, who we called the 30-grand-a-week boys, and take them on was amazing. We gave them a run for their money as well."
But after five promotions and so many clubs, and some incredible experiences, Branston says there remains one highlight from his career.
"Signing for City," he said. "Not many lads from Leicester can say they became a professional with City."
Branston is one of football's colourful characters. Not content with just being a professional footballer, he is the acclaimed author of 'The Footballer's Journey', an engaging and entertaining account of life as a footballer, as well as conducting media work.
He also runs his own company, All About Ballerz, a rapidly growing platform for amateur and professional footballers to upload content in the hope of being signed by an agent or a club, using his app for highlighting and tracking footage on film called Get Noticed.
It is fair to say Branston likes to keep busy, and now he is hoping to team up once again with Rudkin, for whom he played as a junior and worked briefly alongside coaching within City's academy.
"I have done some coaching at the academy before and it is a great club, with some really good coaches like Trevor Peake and Chris Tucker, and some talented young players," he said.
"Hopefully, I can work there again and work towards being a manager one day.
"I would love to manage City. That would be fantastic."
