Steven Gerrard has revealed how his recent experience of being charged with affray and the subsequent trial has changed the way he will behave in public.
The Liverpool captain was accused of being part of a group that injured businessman Marcus McGee at a nightclub in Southport, but was cleared of affray and told by the judge he could 'walk away with his reputation intact'.
"The trial changed me," Gerrard told The Daily Mail.
"I had to learn from it, learn from being in the wrong place at the wrong time. What hour I am out, where I go out, I will be more careful in future.
"From now on, if we win 5-1, if I score two goals and we go top of the league, I won’t try to enjoy it in a bar with my mates anymore. I’ll go for a meal and be in my house by half past ten.
"I was always very decided about the way footballers should behave. I do think it is important.
"It is not about image, or putting on an act, but I know a lot of kids look up to me, I get a lot of fan mail from them and at the time I thought I’d let them and a lot of other people down, just by being in this position.
"During the trial when the prosecution was having its say there were a couple of days when I was reading the reports and thinking 'I hope people don’t think that is what I am like.'"
He added: "Despite the verdict, there was not one minute that was enjoyable, not one moment that made me proud.
"I regret the situation, I regret not going home when I could have done and I accept that some people will always see this as a blemish on my character, even though I got the outcome I thought I deserved.
"What I would say is that I co-operated, I dealt with it and now I want to put it behind me.
"There have been very few instances when I have had problems, but I will think about my spare time, even my holiday time, more carefully now.
"I reckon I have another six years as a professional footballer. It is not so long to make those choices."
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The Liverpool captain was accused of being part of a group that injured businessman Marcus McGee at a nightclub in Southport, but was cleared of affray and told by the judge he could 'walk away with his reputation intact'.
"The trial changed me," Gerrard told The Daily Mail.
"I had to learn from it, learn from being in the wrong place at the wrong time. What hour I am out, where I go out, I will be more careful in future.
"From now on, if we win 5-1, if I score two goals and we go top of the league, I won’t try to enjoy it in a bar with my mates anymore. I’ll go for a meal and be in my house by half past ten.
"I was always very decided about the way footballers should behave. I do think it is important.
"It is not about image, or putting on an act, but I know a lot of kids look up to me, I get a lot of fan mail from them and at the time I thought I’d let them and a lot of other people down, just by being in this position.
"During the trial when the prosecution was having its say there were a couple of days when I was reading the reports and thinking 'I hope people don’t think that is what I am like.'"
He added: "Despite the verdict, there was not one minute that was enjoyable, not one moment that made me proud.
"I regret the situation, I regret not going home when I could have done and I accept that some people will always see this as a blemish on my character, even though I got the outcome I thought I deserved.
"What I would say is that I co-operated, I dealt with it and now I want to put it behind me.
"There have been very few instances when I have had problems, but I will think about my spare time, even my holiday time, more carefully now.
"I reckon I have another six years as a professional footballer. It is not so long to make those choices."
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