Adrian Mariappa has achieved plenty in his career when you think about it.

He's captained his country; skippered his boyhood club; played more than 100 Premier League games and will be able to tell the grandkids that he's played in an FA Cup final. That's a pretty impressive CV to boast at the age of 31. But he's learned to take nothing for granted. He knows just how close he came to not having a career at all. It was, he reveals, perilously close to being over before it all began.

"I didn’t get a scholarship," Mariappa said. "At the time I expected to get it but I didn't."

Mariappa was crestfallen but not alone. It was, if you remember, a scenario that befell Ashley Young just a year earlier but that didn't make it any easier for Mariappa to swallow. He was only 16. Perhaps it was part of some Machiavellian approach by the club at the time to give future internationals a kick up the backside, some sort of reality check. More likely is that some players just mature at a slower rate than others and that academy chiefs, like most of us in life, don't always get things right.

"I was growing at the time and I was all over the place," Mariappa said. "My co-ordination wasn’t there, my pace was gone and I was never the tallest. I didn't get a scholarship but I got given a non-contract, which meant I could still come in every day but I didn't get the £70 a week wages. It wasn’t about the money – it was about not being good enough to get a scholarship at the time."

Mariappa took the decision on the chin and his response was redolent of his approach to defending: tenacious, redoubtable and never-say-die.

"It was about what could I do to change that decision," said Mariappa. "I really took on the reasons why and I learnt so many lessons from that. In those two years I kept coming in and really knuckled down. That summer I joined a sprint club and did that for a good few years. I came in every single day to prove myself. Having that decision at 16 was a blessing in disguise and it taught me not to take anything for granted. You've got to come in every day and work hard. It’s what I’ve tried to do every day ever since."

It's worked a treat. He got a pro contract three years after being overlooked for a scholarship – "I was over the moon as I wasn't expecting anything this time round" – and has not looked back since. Only 37 players have played more times for the Golden Boys than Mariappa, and his run of 113 consecutive appearances is the fourth longest streak in the club's history. Mariappa has Watford in his bones, and his love for the club runs deep and has you feeling all warm inside.

"I’ve grown up at this club. I’ve been here since I was nine," he said. “Even when I played for other teams I always looked out for Watford’s result. I live next door to Watford fans. Even after my career has finished I’m pretty sure I’ll be coming down and watching games."

Indeed, Mariappa is such a dyed-in-the-wool Hornet that he was in the stands at one of Watford's most famous days.

"I was at the play-off final in '99," he said. "I was there with my mum and my brother and one of my mates. I remember it well. It was a brilliant experience. I remember the overhead kick [by Nick Wright] and those are memories you can carry around with you forever. I'm thankful that I can now create some memories for my kids."