James Watts, 36, from Newport, is commercial manager with Newport County and has also made his name as MC Wotsee, one of the UK’s leading hardcore drum and bass MCs. He talks to CIARAN KELLY.

“I WENT to my first County game at the age of six and have been going for 30 years.

I can still remember the date of my first game: County lost 2-1 to Gillingham on August 23, 1986 at Somerton Park. Steve Berry scored the first goal I ever saw and he was a bit of a hero for me.

They were pretty depressing times to follow County but because I was so young, I don’t think I quite understood how bad things were.

Bankruptcy was around the corner and it was only when the team returned to Newport and Somerton Park that my interest was revived.

I was a school kid and my Dad worked shifts, so it was difficult to follow the team when they were playing outside Newport in the years previously.

My Mum was a housewife and my Dad worked a Ministry of Defence- style job with telephone companies.

I was an only child, but I always had mates around after school so that was never a problem. I was not spoilt, but I got my fair share of things.

My folks are still living in Lliswerry and I pop in to see them about three or four times per week.

My boy, Harry, is three-and-a-half. He’s a sharp little boy and is also into football. He watches County and is able to relate to everything, like when a goal goes in.

I only have positive memories of my time growing up and only have good things to say about Newport. I remember the days of the cinema and the Megabowl, where we all used to meet as kids.

Then there was the nightclub industry in later years, where 2,000 people would be going out in Newport five or six nights per week.

I think technology and the cost of living has changed that massively, and the smoking ban has had an impact too.

I found life really kicked in for me when I did my A-levels and left Lliswerry High School to go to Nash College.

I was able to pursue music, as a performer and promoter, full-time for many years and they were some of the best years of my life.

I always had an interest in music since I was in school, really. We used to pass rave tapes around in school and I made a demo when I was 21.

It was around the time that the internet moved up a gear, in 2000 or 2001, and I essentially went from performing in front of the mirror to being the main act on fliers in just 12 months.

I sent the demo out to clubs and was performing underground on internet stations.

The moment that it really happened was when I met DJ Brisk in a club in Bristol and he put me in the window.

Here was this kid from Wales on the main stage and everything just came together.

I’ve been doing it for so long and have performed all over the world. I’m no longer doing it full-time, but I’ll never retire and there’s always one more thing you want to do in music.

I’d estimate I’ve done 1,500 gigs in 10 different countries and I’ve performed in front of 60,000 people at Global Gathering.

It’s mental and performing in front of those kind of crowds is like going from playing in the Welsh League to turning out for Manchester United.

It’s more commercial now and it was a lot better underground, with bigger crowds and a festival feel.

People don’t pay £30 to go to gigs anymore; they just download music off Soundcloud.

Back then, you really needed to be good to be released, whereas now, anyone can.

I always see it as work and it’s not a hobby.

You can’t go partying before a gig, because you’ll be physically ruined. It’s all about balancing sleep in preparation and my Mrs, Natalie, keeps me in check and makes sure that both my feet are planted firmly on the ground. Her support is crucial to balancing both jobs.

I used to post on County message boards with my MC handle, MC Wotsee. They were usually insightful, occasionally controversial, posts about the team or the club.

I knew that I would eventually work for County and that it was my destiny.

I was itching to get involved and already had a plan put together 10 or 11 months beforehand, in 2009.

I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved and we’ve brought in lots of new sponsorship, with around 50 or 60 new companies.

We’ve made a lot of progress on social media and we had never done hospitality before I arrived, either.

It’s really hard to be a fan in the position, as you kick every ball and know whatever happens on the pitch has huge ramifications for what you do 9-5.

There’s an added pressure to that and I never felt that more than before the playoff final at Wembley in 2013.

Essentially, my full-time job was on the line and I would have been on another rolling, self-employed contract if we had not got promotion into the Football League.

I just remember someone telling me I looked really white and anxious on the day; it was a massive relief in the end and a million emotions rolled into one.

But, it all comes back to the date February 25, 2005: that changed my life.

I was a passenger in a 90 mile per hour collision near Worcester and I had to learn to walk again.

I had been asleep and I just remember waking up sprawled on the road and the only way I could tell it was bad was when the paramedic was putting this really hard pressure on my head to stop the bleeding.

I required 30 stitches to my head and my right eye had to be restructured.

The way I would describe the scene would be like a knife cutting into a pumpkin: there was a huge hole in my head.

That accident changed my life and I’ve never been more motivated.

If someone tells me I cannot do something, I point to that and use it as inspiration to prove them wrong.

I’ve always been pretty determined, but that made me want to be as good as I can be.

It means that I’m really competitive, even if it was just a game of snakes and ladders.”