Graham Alexander made the history books on Saturday when he made his 1,000th football career appearance. We meet the woman behind the successful man — Karen Alexander.

Burnley’s captain Graham Alexander met his future wife and right-hand woman in the school playground the year Tiffany was top of the charts.

The Scottish international’s younger sister Alison was matchmaker, and childhood sweethearts Graham and Karen, then 16 and 14, soon became inseparable.

Coventry born Karen, who started dating the popular Burnley defender in 1988 recalled: “I was in art class with Alison and she said to me one day that somebody liked me in the year above.

“I remember listing all of Graham’s friends, and then she said ‘you’ve missed one out....my brother’, I was like ‘really?’ and that was that,” she smiled.

Karen, who has been a keen spectator at most of Graham’s 1,000 appearances and can often be found in the crowd at Turf Moor, added: “We started going out in the January and by the July, Graham started playing for Scunthorpe on a youth training scheme.

“I only got to see him every other week when his dad brought him back for the weekend.

“I wasn’t ever really that interested in football when I was at school, but I started to support whoever Graham was playing for right from the very beginning.”

Karen and Graham moved into their first house while Graham was playing for Scunthorpe before moving to Milton Keynes when he signed for Luton Town in 1995.

They were married a year later and had their first child, Callum, in 1997 and twin girls two years later.

But the 37-year-old mum is nothing like the footballer’s wife stereotype — you won’t find any fake tan or hair extensions in her wardrobe at the Alexander family home near Preston.

“Sometimes I don’t even tell people that I’m married to a footballer, "It’s not that I’m embarrassed but people make preconceptions of what you’re like,” said Karen who holidays with the family in Graham’s VW campervan.

“Life for us is nothing like the TV programme Footballers’ Wives, I couldn’t think of anything worse.

“We’re just normal people, who do normal things. We’re down to earth and we’re just the same as any other family.

“Graham’s job is just him trying to provide for his family, but he’s lucky to be doing something that he loves and it’s a joy for me to see that for him.”

Karen has been Graham’s biggest fan for more than 20 years and she has followed him from club to club moving the family around the country when a new football home beckoned.

At times this has proved a difficult task, no more so than spring 1999 when the couple’s twin girls Kaitlin and Eden were born nine weeks premature after Graham had just signed for Preston, and was living away from the family.

But Karen insists she has loved every minute of life as a footballer’s wife, even the football itself — win or lose.

“I used to moan about how much football was in our life, but now I do get quite into it. And it could be worse – he could be a cricketer,” Karen joked.

“I love cheering him on. And as he’s got older he’s developed a mechanism to leave a bad result at the door.

"When he was younger he’d be quite feisty and angry about losing.”

The highlight for the entire Alexander family came at the weekend when Graham, 39, came on as a substitute to make his 1,000th career appearance.

“It was so emotional for me on Saturday. I was in tears,” Karen added. “The reception he got when he came on was amazing.

“Michael Duff’s dad passed me a hankie. I can’t thank the Burnley fans enough.

"When we saw him putting on his shinpads we got so excited.

"I am so very proud.”