Pavarotti started to listen to his father’s recordings of famous tenors of the day such as Beniamino Gigli, Giovanni Martinelli, Tito Schipa and Enrico Caruso. At around the age of nine he began singing with his father in a small local church choir. He was a normal boy who liked playing football and even thought of being a professional soccer goalkeeper, but his mother said he should be a teacher. His father said he would continue to support him, but once he was 30 years old he would have to earn money to support himself.