JOHN MARQUIS would never have been a footballer had he not been scouted by his school DINNER LADY
The Doncaster striker is in such hot form right now that League One promotion rivals Sunderland tried to snap him up on transfer deadline day for £1
25million. But Rovers held their nerve and the 22-goal hitman is hoping to help them topple Premier League Crystal Palace tomorrow in the FA Cup
Yet Marquis, 26, says he is thankful to dinner lady Pat Gadd for putting him on the right path
He told SunSport: "I was having a kickabout in the playground one day when I was about seven at Hawes Down Primary School in South London and one of our dinner ladies, Pat, came up to me and said, 'My husband coaches a football team, are you interested in coming?' "The club was West Wickham Juniors
"Pat used to work in the club house and did all the bacon rolls and stuff. I enjoyed it and got my first football kit, I was hooked to the game from that moment
"Even though I've moved to Doncaster, I bump into her every time I go home. She has become a bit of a family friend
I always say thanks and buy her a drink when I see her." Marquis was rejected by Palace when he was 11 and he said: "I had trials at both Millwall and Palace
I wasn't successful in either. But when I got to about 15, Millwall scouted me and got signed up before graduating through their youth ranks
" SAN UNITED Man Utd line up £70m Dortmund wonderkid Jadon Sancho… but rivals City will take 15 per cent cut of transfer fee Marquis spent seven seasons as a pro at Millwall but struggled to nail down a regular starting spot
He ended up being sent out on loan to Staines, Portsmouth, Torquay, Northampton, Cheltenham, Gillingham and Leyton Orient
While on Millwall's books Marquis became a part-time fashion model for Rio Ferdinand's magazine Five
Marquis said: "We had the same agent at the time. Rio was launching his clothing brand and wanted someone who was good looking so he picked me out! He wanted someone to model the stuff
It was modelling hat, tracksuits, polo shirts. I enjoyed it but it's not something I could do on a full-time basis
"As strange as it sounds from someone who has played in stadiums with 20-000 to 30,000 watching, I felt under a lot of pressure in front of the camera
It didn't seem natural to me to be posing around. The pictures came out great though and Rio was happy with them because he published them
"I used to get a bit of stick until my team-mates wanted some free clothes then they started being nice to me! I don't think my modelling career will be taking off anytime soon
" His finest moment in a Lions shirt came in the FA Cup six years ago when he scored a last-minute winner to topple then Premier League Aston Villa en route to the semi-final
He said: "I had been out for a whole year after a double hernia operation. The Villa game was my first start after that
"Darren Bent had put Villa in front but we managed to level then in the last minute I've head the ball on to the bar but it's come back to me and I was able to follow it in
"That was a great season for Millwall. We reached the semi-final but went out to Wigan, who went on to beat Manchester City in the final
" Marquis is one of the hottest properties outside the Premier League. He has scored a staggering 63 goals in 136 appearances for Rovers since joining in June 2016
The striker dropped down to League Two to join the Yorkshire club. They have since been promoted and are aiming to reach the Championship next season
Marquis has not ruled out staying with Rovers if they get promoted but it is clear he will be attracting a lot of interest this summer
He said: "I'm always ambitious. I've always wanted to play as high as I can. I knew I had to take that step backwards to go forward again
"I've played more than 130 games in two and a half seasons here and I've not missed a game through injury
I just needed that opportunity to become a main focal point in the team. "When you're scoring goals, teams will be interested in you
I just want to score goals until the end of the season to help Doncaster and keep my good record up
"You want to play somewhere where you feel appreciated and wanted. I feel that at Doncaster
My aim is to play in the Championship next season, Doncaster and myself if we can make that step up then obviously that will be fantastic news for everyone involved
"If that doesn't happen, the club can reassess it then. They thought me staying on deadline day was the right thing for the club and it was too late to lose me which is true
The situation might be different in the summer. I'll have a year left on my contact and it will be up to the club to decide what they want to do then
FA Cup - Saturday fixtures - Live stream, TV channel, kick-off time, and latest odds for the FA Cup matches "I'm sure Donny would agree if a top Championship club had come in earlier on in January it might have been a different story – but they felt selling to Sunderland on the last day of the window wouldn't be a great move
" Tomorrow is the first time Doncaster have been in the fifth round in 63 years
And Marquis revealed he used to watch opponents Palace when he was growing up and a number of his pals will be at the game cheering on the Eagles
He said: "I used to watch Millwall and Crystal Palace as a kid. I'd go with mates and we'd watch from the Holmesdale End
My sister actually lives just a mile away from the ground. "All my old mates have been texting me and saying how they are looking forward to booking the day off to watch Palace in the quarter-final
They'll be in the away end on Sunday and I'm hoping to wipe the smiles off their faces
"Doncaster have never reached the quarter final in their entire history so it would be lovely to create a bit of history
" FA Cup - Sunday fixtures - Live stream, TV channel, kick-off time, and latest odds for the FA Cup matches
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