Winning a Music Week Award for Sales Team is just one of the highlights of Derek Allen’s career. Here, Warner Music’s top sales exec looks back at his role in the Britpop wars, reveals how he nearly made it as a goalkeeper and singles out the UK superstars he helped steer to global success...

Football was my first love...

“I played for Birmingham Boys as goalkeeper from the age of 11 to 16, then I was an apprentice. But ...