One kid we met in India had lived on a rubbish dump for 13 years. He couldn't speak and he was barking because the only conversation he ever had was with dogs," said the Portsmouth defender. "They pulled him off the tip and he had been in the orphanage for three years and he had just begun speaking a few words. By last year he was able to form sentences. When you see that you just think: 'What else can we do to help?' The 36-year-old has been unable to fully recover from the problem and has made his long-term health his priority after making 219 appearances for Pompey.

In the second game of the 1994–95 season against Leyton Orient, Primus made his debut as a substitute coming on for the injured Mark Newson. His next appearance for Barnet, against Scarborough, was described as the "worst performance of [his] career" in his autobiography. He went on to say that he was "weighed down by the burden of expectation" and heard someone say he was the "worst player we've ever had at Barnet". He was often nervous before matches and recited the Lord's Prayer as a way of coping with his anxiety. [21] At the end of the season, Primus was runner-up in the voting for the Player of the Season and was man of the match on several occasions. [22] Barnet had a poor start to the next season and they were at the bottom of the table in mid-September. After beating Northampton Town 2–0, Barnet went on an 11-game winning streak which ended at Colchester United despite Primus scoring a goal. [23] He would go on to score five goals in the season; more than any other season in his career. [16] Once again, he was runner-up in the Player of the Season award, this time to the goalkeeper Maik Taylor. [24] Primus, Linvoy (2007). "All the way to Charlton". Linvoy Primus: Transformed. Legendary Publishing. p.14. ISBN 978-0-9526760-2-7. At the age of 17, Primus met future wife Trish through a mutual friend. [17] Much to the chagrin of Primus' parents, they decided to have a child after 18 months. The footballer said in his autobiography, "Up until then I had been the model son and had brought no trouble to their door, but now they were upset at what they saw as my rebellion". [65] In November 1993, their first son Nathan was born. [66] Their daughter Atlanta, born in April 1997, plays for Southampton FC played in the FA Women's Championship. [67] She previously represented England at the youth level and played in the United States for California State University-Fullerton and Chelsea Women [68] Primus and Trish married on 9 June 1999. [69] Their third child and second son, Cameron, was born in 2002. [70]A Bosman transfer to Portsmouth followed after three successful seasons at the Berkshire-based club. Initially, Primus struggled to break into the team and had his progress hindered by injuries. But the 2002–03 season signaled a change in direction as Primus broke into the first team and won Portsmouth fan's player of the season as well as the PFA Fans' Player of the Year for his division. For the next three seasons Primus was in and out of the first team and worked under three managers: Harry Redknapp, Velimir Zajec and Alain Perrin. The 2006–07 season was the last injury-free season for Primus as a career-threatening knee injury meant he would not make an appearance the following season. Primus went out on loan to former club Charlton and made 10 appearances and one further appearance for Portsmouth before retiring through injury in December 2009. The Milton End stand at Fratton Park was renamed the 'Linvoy Primus Community Stand' because of his outstanding services to the club. Mr Primus’s daughter Atlanta currently plays professionally for London City Lionesses in the second tier of English women’s football. He thinks that her position as a practising Christian in the women’s game is equivalent to where the men’s game was when he came to faith in 2001. Matt Baker is the national director for England and pastoral-support director for English football at Sports Chaplaincy UK. This increase in players from abroad, he says, has given homegrown players greater confidence in discussing religion. The chaplain to Northampton Town FC, the Revd Haydon Spenceley, says that social media have changed the way in which the public relate to players, making them more aware of what is important to the players away from the pitch.

Football is a microcosm of the contradictions and nuances that come with prayer. One chaplain spoke about the challenge of unanswered prayer in the context of promising to pray for players whose injuries turned out to be more long-term than expected. Another told the story of being introduced on the first day of training after the club had been relegated as “the rev who was praying for us last season and it didn’t f***ing work”. The retired professional footballers who have taken part in the study have been completing questionnaires on their playing careers, along with undergoing X-rays of their feet and ankles at Southampton General Hospital. His third season for the club was an unsettled one. The club went through three different managers after the departure of Clemence: Terry Bullivant (twice), Terry Gibson and Alan Mullery. Nevertheless, Barnet narrowly avoided relegation to the Conference and Primus was awarded the Player of the Season and given the captaincy after a season which saw him make 46 league appearances. After Bullivant left for Reading, however, Primus became unsettled and said "[I was] hankering after a move to join Terry [Bullivant] and Pards [Alan Pardew] at Reading". [25] Reading [ edit ]Allen, Neil (22 May 2009). "Johnson named your Pompey Player of the Season". Portsmouth News . Retrieved 25 December 2009. The acute influence that migration has had on the Churches is apparent in football, extending beyond players such as Mr Rashford, whose grandparents were among the Windrush generation, to more recent waves of international players who have joined the Premier League. Primus first rejected a trial with Crewe Alexandra before accepting one with Cardiff City. Just three days before his trial with Cardiff was set to begin Ray Clemence, the Barnet manager, offered Primus a two-year contract with the club. It was later revealed that Clemence was told by his assistant, Terry Harvey, that he should sign him immediately: "Get in now and sign him, if he goes down to Cardiff and sees their stadium he will sign for them." [19] Primus was determined to prove Charlton wrong and says he "grew from a boy to a man" at Barnet. This was also a time when depression was common for Primus, and he became addicted to alcohol and drugs such as ecstasy and LSD. [9] [20]