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40 Articles

Regardless of which football team you support, you’ll always remember the sport’s seismic events and where you were when you heard them. I wasn’t born when Trevor Francis became the first million pound player in 1979, so the first major move that really registered was Andy Cole’s shock £7m transfer from Newcastle to Manchester United in January 1996. It felt like such a big deal – not just because of the fee, but that it was also shocking to see a player switch between rivals. Then there was Alan Shearer’s hefty £15m transfer from Blackburn to Newcastle. Since then, fees have risen lazily – and then quite spectacularly. Now, we’re at a place where the most exciting player in British football is worth £100m. But while there’s no doubt that…

MANUEL PELLEGRINI

Manuel Pellegrini looks across the Staffordshire countryside and spies a hint of blue between the heavy clouds of late July. “An English summer,” says the smiling Real Betis manager, 67, who has brought his team to England for pre-season. With Seville’s temperatures touching 40 degrees, St George’s Park and its plush facilities make for a welcome base as Betis prepare for their return to European competition. Last term was a roaring success under the manager who joined them a year ago, as Betis leapt from 15th to sixth under Pellegrini to nab automatic qualification for the Europa League group stage. After a rough ride at West Ham – an uncharacteristic failure for the Chilean – it was a welcome return to normality for Pellegrini, who has made a career of…

MANUEL PELLEGRINI

MEANWHILE IN…

1“NOT TOTALLY SURE ABOUT THIS NEW SIGNING, LADS” Hallescher FC welcomed a new arrival for their squad photo – but he seemed a bit under the weather. Looking rather green, with bulging eyes and a tired expression on his face, the 8ft new boy didn’t exactly look ready for action. But no, the German third-tier side hadn’t brought Peter Crouch out of retirement – this was Galaktikus, alien mascot for the kids’ section of regional newspaper Mitteldeutsche Zeitung. Hallescher are based in the city of Halle, in former East Germany. They qualified for the UEFA Cup in 1971, back when the club were known as Chemie Halle, in honour of the local chemical industry. Sadly they fell on hard times after reunification, falling as far as the amateur leagues, before…

GAMES THAT CHANGED MY LIFE MICHAEL ESSIEN

Lyon 4 Fenerbahce 2 November 3, 2004 Champions League group stage “Nothing got past me that night. I felt like I was so fit, I could take on any player in the world right then. Before we could get going, though, Fenerbahce took the lead and silenced our fans. Not long afterwards, I got upfield and connected with a cross that bounced in – I call it the Essien volley! It brought us level and got us going. Florent Malouda put us ahead before they equalised again, but then Nilmar scored twice in injury time. After, it felt like the whole city of Lyon couldn’t stop talking about me. I felt the love of what it was like being a professional footballer playing in the Champions League against big-time players.”…

GAMES THAT CHANGED MY LIFE MICHAEL ESSIEN

THE SOCCER MOSES

Think Nashville, and certain long-haired legends spring to mind: Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift, Willie Nelson. But now the home of country has a new hero – a rabble-rousing religious icon making commandments of a footy nature. And he plays a mean guitar. Soccer Moses is the unlikely face of Nashville SC, the new MLS franchise making noise in Music City. True, their unofficial cheerleader does rile some folks too, but Moses has eyes on the promised land. “We want to help grow the sport here – I’m a passionate fan of what football can do,” he tells FFT. “Although sometimes it’s just an excuse to cosplay.” Stephen Mason is behind the wild-haired idol, who was dreamed up in a barber shop. Away from matchdays he runs a hair salon –…

THE SOCCER MOSES

ASK A SILLY QUESTION KAREN ‘PEAKY’ CARNEY

“I’VE GOT SO MUCH BLINDERS MERCHANDISE IT’S RIDICULOUS. I WANT TO BE AN EXTRA ON IT” Hi Karen. You’re from Solihull – who is the greatest Brummie of all time? Hi. Ooh, wow, that’s a tricky one. Ozzy Osbourne maybe, or Jack Grealish… probably Jasper Carrott? You’ve caught me off guard. How about JRR Tolkien, who wrote Lord of the Rings? He lived two minutes around the corner from ours. He’s right up there. What about Sir Alfred Bird, founder of Bird’s custard? What a Brummie. We all owe him an immense debt. Oh, that’s so true. Who doesn’t like a bit of custard? I like vegan custard. My mum is obsessed with bananas and custard. We grew up on that stuff. Very nice. Are you horrified by the Brummie…

ASK A SILLY QUESTION KAREN ‘PEAKY’ CARNEY

THE ULTIMATE QUIZ

01 Arsenal’s summer signing Ben White enjoyed three loan spells earlier in his career. How many of those clubs can you name? 02 Which player won the Golden Boot at Euro 2020, by virtue of one assist over his closest rival? 03 I started out in the North East, won 35 caps for England, picked up two League Cup medals and retired in August aged 37. Who am I? 04 Which nation knocked out Great Britain from the Olympics with a 4-3 victory after extra time? 05 Paul Pogba’s Premier League record £89 million transfer from Juventus to Manchester United was completed in which year? 06 Which Scottish Premiership side claimed both domestic cups in their terrific 2020-21 campaign? 07 To the nearest thousand, how many seats will the King…

THE ULTIMATE QUIZ

BOBBY GILLESPIE

What was the first match that you ever attended? I had a ticket to see Scotland against the Czechs in 1973 – if we won, we’d qualify for the 1974 World Cup. I got a ticket because I lived close to Hampden Park, only two streets away. I was up in the North Stand and went on my own; Scotland won 2-1 and Joe Jordan scored the winner. My seat was in line with it, a spectacular diving header. Jordan went where other men were scared to. Who was your childhood hero, and did you ever meet them? In Glasgow, my hero was Kenny Dalglish at Celtic. He was just f**king amazing, a wizard. I marvelled at the way he’d get the ball with his back to the opposition’s goal…

BOBBY GILLESPIE

NOT SO FAST, BADER…

On June 25, Bader Al-Mutawa became the most capped male footballer of all time, making his 185th international appearance for Kuwait. By August, he’d already lost his record – to a rather unexpected source. Al-Mutawa was officially recognised by FIFA this summer as the winner of a three-man race to surpass Ahmed Hassan as the international caps record holder – Hassan made his 184th and final appearance for Egypt in 2012, and a trio of players had been closing in on that mark in recent times. Oman’s Ahmed Mubarak and Spain’s Sergio Ramos both stopped short at 180 after being dropped by their respective national teams, allowing Al-Mutawa to claim the record in a 2-0 defeat to Bahrain. The 36-year-old frontman has always played his club football in the Middle…

NOT SO FAST, BADER…

It’s 30 years since Bari hosted the European Cup final and snapped up one of English football’s biggest stars – but sadly, they’re unlikely to be repeating either feat any time soon. Based on Italy’s south-east coast, the city has a population of only 325,000 but boasts the 58,000-capacity Stadio San Nicola – built for the 1990 World Cup, it’s the third-biggest stadium in Italy, behind Milan’s San Siro and Rome’s Stadio Olimpico. Within a year of opening, it was the venue for Red Star Belgrade’s European Cup triumph over Marseille. Bari lured David Platt from Aston Villa for £5.5 million two months later – a record fee for a transfer involving a British club. “I didn’t even know where Bari was,” the midfielder (top) admitted. Promoted to Serie A…

REQUIRED READING

MARADONA Guillem Balague (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £20) ●●●●● After serving a 15-month ban for drug use, Maradona joined Sevilla in 1992, vowing that it marked “the dawning of a new era of modesty”. So naturally, one of the first things that he did in Andalusia was to rent the opulent house of Juan Antonio Ruiz Roman, the city’s prime bullfighter. As this layered new biography reveals, the most corrosive and long-standing of Diego’s varied addictions was his constant craving for fame and publicity. Through a host of interviews with old team-mates, journalists and school friends, the reader learns about the poverty that surrounded Maradona in Villa Fiorito (the Buenos Aires shanty town in which he grew up), and how the seamier side of his personality helped to first turn him…

REQUIRED READING

Anguilla have just moved below San Marino to sit bottom of the men’s FIFA rankings. How and why did you become their manager last autumn? Dennis Lawrence was the manager of the Trinidad & Tobago team and I was his assistant, but there were problems and he got the sack. I saw Anguilla needed a head coach, I applied, and a few weeks later I had an interview. I knew Anguilla were bottom of FIFA’s rankings, and there’d be challenges, but I’ve always started out from the bottom in my career and I wanted to see if I could make a difference. There are a lot of decent players, but they don’t play much football. It’s all about changing the culture. How have you found the job? It’s been great.…

THE VIEW FROM THE STANDS

LA LIGA LEARNINGS? Far be it for me to try to deny the world watching Lionel Messi, but I had to applaud La Liga’s stance on that saga. The rules they have in place were introduced to stop clubs’ spending going out of control, and Barcelona’s has been ridiculous. A number of Premier League clubs would have to drastically change their own practices under such rules – but clubs lower down the pyramid could benefit. With Championship clubs in particular plunging towards catastrophe, couldn’t the EFL finally introduce some rules with teeth, and force clubs to spend only within their means? Our clubs’ long-term futures are far more important than any short-term gains we might chase to reach the so-called promised land. Liam Denny, Long Eaton WELL IN, EVERYONE Forgive…

THE VIEW FROM THE STANDS

FIVE ALIVE I enjoyed the Olympics this summer, but had very little interest in watching any of the men’s football. Because what’s the point? With only some teams there, it’s not the pinnacle of the sport – so I would suggest changing things up for 2024. One event I did enjoy was the 3x3 basketball, which was great fun. I may just be putting rose-tinted glasses on for FIFA: Road to World Cup 98, but I think it’d be great if football at the Olympics was five-a-side instead, using each country’s best amateurs. Surely, fans around the world would love it? Count me in... Oliver Smith, Stevenage…

YOU DON’T KNOW JACK

The man was wearing a flat cap, as he raced from the stand and swung a punch into the back of Jack Grealish’s head. The Second City Derby was just nine minutes old, and St Andrew’s was in chaos. As Aston Villa’s Tammy Abraham and a steward teamed up to wrestle the pitch invader to the ground, Grealish sat stunned on the turf, trying to process what had just happened. He’d been facing the other way, with no reason to suspect any imminent danger, when the fan rushed out from Birmingham City’s Tilton Road end. The first thing Grealish knew about it was as the blow connected with his head. The pitch invader was messing with the wrong man, at exactly the wrong time. Grealish had endured two and a…

YOU DON’T KNOW JACK

Jack Grealish isn’t the first member of his family to have represented England and Aston Villa – his great-great grandfather did the same more than 100 years ago. Three of his grandparents hail from Ireland, but another strand of his family links back to West Midlander Billy Garraty (circled), a lethal inside-right who earned one England cap in a 2-1 victory over Wales at Fratton Park in 1903. He was the First Division’s top scorer with 27 goals when Aston Villa won the league in 1899-1900, and went on to make 260 appearances for the club. Garraty also helped them to beat Newcastle 2-0 in the 1905 FA Cup Final, watched by more than 100,000 supporters at Crystal Palace.…

TREVOR FRANCIS Francis became Britain’s first six-figure man as Nottingham Forest paid £1.18m to snare him from Birmingham in 1979. Three months later he nodded the winner in the European Cup final, but Liverpool ended up as domestic champions. CHRIS SUTTON No British club had ever forked out £5m for a player when Blackburn signed Sutton from Norwich in July 1994 – but that very campaign, his SAS partnership with Alan Shearer lifted the Lancashire club to the Premier League summit. ALAN SHEARER Sutton’s strike partner became the first British player to move for more than £10m when he joined Newcastle in 1996. The world-record £15m marksman delivered a club-record 206 goals and two FA Cup finals... but sadly no major honours. RIO FERDINAND The balletic centre-back was the first…

DRIBBLE ME THIS.. WHO’S THE GREA TEST OF THEM ALL?

“WHEN HE WAS IN FULL FLOW, HATEM BEN ARFA WAS JUST IMPOSSIBLE TO STOP” 9 RIYAD MAHREZ You know a trick is good when everyone sees it coming and it still works a treat every time. Much like Arjen Robben, Mahrez and his chop inside has embarrassed a long line of foes, and the spindly-legged assassin continues to put it to regular, effective use for Manchester City. Best moment Google ‘Mahrez Aston Villa’ – then watch him put three defenders on their backside with one 2015 feint for would-be champions Leicester. 10 JOHN BARNES Barnes won his top-flight titles when it was still the First Division, but he had seven years in the Premier League with Liverpool, Newcastle and Charlton, and was one of the finest dribblers England has seen.…

DRIBBLE ME THIS.. WHO’S THE GREA TEST OF THEM ALL?

THE DEATH OF LA LIGA

“THE DAY THAT NEYMAR LEFT IN 2017 IS A ‘BEFORE’ AND ‘AFTER’ MOMENT IN BARCELONA HISTORY” The tweet is still there, more than four years after Gerard Pique sent it, in memoriam of a decaying dynasty. At 9.55pm on July 23, 2017, the centre-back took a selfie with his Barcelona team-mate, Neymar, and captioned it with the infamous legend: Se queda. He’s staying. Only he wasn’t. A week and a half later, Neymar moved to Paris Saint-Germain, the Ligue 1 runners-up anxious to prove they were more than nouveau-riche arrivistes. On August 3, PSG paid the Brazilian’s world-record €222 million release clause, in full, and there was nothing Barcelona could do to stop them. Barely 12 months later, Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid for Juventus. He had just steered Los…

THE DEATH OF LA LIGA

THE CHAAAAAAAM PIIIIIOOOOOOONS! WHAT TO WATCH IN 2021-22

LILLE’S LIGUE 1 TRIUMPH HAS PROMPTED ANOTHER PSG TRANSFER SPLURGE, WITH SOME ADDED NIBBLE PSG’S ‘NO, REALLY, THIS YEAR’ RECRUITMENT In 1992-93, Marseille lifted a nation on its shoulders by defeating Milan 1-0 in the first Champions League final of a newly branded era. But France’s sole European Cup win was soon tainted: amid the sordid French football bribery scandal that came next, Marseille never defended their title. It’s taken a while for France to scale those heights, but Paris Saint-Germain winning the Champions League might unite the country in a different way: as long ago as 2013, PSG were top of a L’Équipe survey on the nation’s most despised club. They’re a natural Bond villain: extravagant, well-dressed and prone to a tantrum. Remember their Manchester City meltdowns? Or the…

THE CHAAAAAAAM PIIIIIOOOOOOONS! WHAT TO WATCH IN 2021-22

“WE’RE SCHEISSE AND WE KNOW WE ARE”

“Everything has an end, only the sausage has two,” or so goes an old German saying that’s still widely used today. Revered porcine products aside, Germans believe all things end eventually. Nothing lasts forever. Fans of Schalke 04 and Hamburger SV will understand the sentiment better than most. Until recently, both were considered German football powerhouses – successful on the pitch, respected off it. Even rival supporters appreciate the traditions and values upheld by the two clubs. And yet, the pair find themselves in the 2. Bundesliga, Germany’s second tier, this season. Schalke’s relegation in 2020-21 was among the most humiliating in top-flight history: 34 matches, three wins, 24 defeats and 86 goals conceded. They came within one match of equalling Tasmania Berlin’s infamous record of 31 consecutive games without…

“WE’RE SCHEISSE AND WE KNOW WE ARE”

Like all the great goals, it started with Steve Lomas. The Northern Ireland international arguably did the easy bit: a square pass near the halfway line, to a diminutive left-footer on the right flank. From there, magic happened. A quick drop of the shoulder, and a dart inside Simon Charlton. A swerve past David Hughes, as the penalty area drew closer. A touch that defeated Ken Monkou, then another one to befuddle Hughes for a second time. The path to goal had been opened up. What followed was a brilliant stutter to put Dave Beasant off balance, then a lavish dink over the helpless goalkeeper into the net. In the long history of the Premier League, no goal has been quite so similar to Lionel Messi at his finest, yet…

GEORGIA ON THEIR MIND

Georgi Kinkladze wasn’t the only Georgia international to end up at Manchester City in the ’90s – three more followed, too. Just eight months after Kinkladze’s City bow, Mikheil Kavelashvili made his Sky Blues debut – but the striker netted only three times in 30 appearances. It wasn’t enough to earn a renewal of his work permit, and he was shipped off on loan to Grasshoppers. Kinkladze’s former Saarbrucken team-mate Murtaz Shelia (left) arrived in 1997, as did fellow defender Kakhaber Tskhadadze. Both were hit by injuries but outlasted Kinkladze at Maine Road, going on to feature for City in the third tier. Only three other Georgians have played Premier League football: Rati Aleksidze made three cameos for Chelsea, Zurab Khizanishvili swapped Rangers for Blackburn, and Temuri Ketsbaia used his…

TOO GOOD TO GO DOWN?

ROY KEANE Despite a growing list of admirers, the 21-year-old couldn’t help Nottingham Forest escape the drop in the Premier League’s inaugural season of 1992-93. It signalled the end of Brian Clough’s reign, and Keane completed a British record transfer to Manchester United. FABRIZIO RAVANELLI & JUNINHO The international icons steered Boro to two cup finals in 1996-97, but even though Ravanelli scored 31 goals in all competitions and Juninho 15, the club were still relegated. PAOLO DI CANIO & JOE COLE No one expected West Ham to fall in 2002-03, but they did despite accruing 42 points. Di Canio and Cole were the standouts in a squad featuring Les Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Jermain Defoe and Fredi Kanouté. MARK VIDUKA Leeds’ financial implosion consigned some big names to the drop…

TOO GOOD TO GO DOWN?

IT’S FINALLY SUNNY IN

WREXHAM Humphrey Ker still struggles to get his head around the past 18 months. One moment he was a writer and actor in Rob McElhenney’s comedy series Mythic Quest, the next he was being sent back to Britain to find a football club for McElhenney and Hollywood icon Ryan Reynolds to buy. During the opening season of filming, Ker would occasionally spend his lunch breaks watching Liverpool’s live midweek matches. McElhenney is a sports fanatic, but couldn’t fathom the appeal of football beyond playing FIFA with his kids. “Rob saw how much me and another guy on set were into it,” Ker tells FFT. “But the big shift was during lockdown. I recommended he watched Sunderland ’Til I Die. I thought, ‘That’s the key to this. He’s a storyteller. He…

IT’S FINALLY SUNNY IN

HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE

It all started in the back of a van, rumbling between Doncaster and Scunthorpe. It was the summer of 1966 and sat behind the wheel was Bob Nellis, a furniture salesman who’d once had trials with the former. Now in his thirties, Nellis’ football career consisted of the odd Sunday League kickabout as well as helping to coach a local kids team. Dreams of making it had long since expired; Nellis didn’t even have enough balls or kit to run his training sessions. As luck would have it, the solution to acquiring some was getting changed on the back seat of his van: a scrawny 15-year-old lad named Joseph. Nellis had initially met the youngster a few weeks earlier, and hadn’t much enjoyed the encounter. Turning out for his local…

HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE

THE KEEPER WHO WENT TO WAR

The goalkeeper is hoisted high above the huge, wild crowd in front of the Clock Tower in Homs, Syria. He’s propped up by a mass of humanity, as if he’s a crowd surfer at a heavy metal gig. There’s a volume to match. Thousands of frenzied men jump up and down, lock arms and spin in circles as their hero is passed through to a raised platform. But this is not the end to some dramatic football tournament – it’s a furious political protest. Warned that his life is in danger – that assassins of the regime he detests, the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad, may be gunning for him – the goalkeeper points to his head. “Listen, oh sniper: here’s the neck and here’s the head,” he goads. The crowd…

THE KEEPER WHO WENT TO WAR

You returned to QPR in January after five years away, and helped the club climb from 20th to ninth in the table. What did that mean to you? I had my head down at West Brom and tried to get back into Big Sam’s plans [Sam Allardyce]. I was on my way to training one Thursday when my agent called me to say QPR were interested. I just said, “If we can get a deal sorted, let’s go.” By that night the deal was all but done. It was the one club I wanted to join, and they gave me the perfect platform to get my love back for the game. I needed it more than anything. The world was going through a strange time and I didn’t want to…

I WAS THE MUSIC MAN

Billy Wood’s allegiances haven’t always been with the club for which he now works as CEO. Before having the hots for eighth-tier Hastings United, Wood was a player and fan at their local rivals, St Leonards. One day in his teens, though, Wood found himself on enemy territory to watch Hastings take on Brighton in a friendly. Everything changed. “I just fell in love with the place,” recalls the Croydon-born 35-year-old. “It seemed bigger, grander than St Leonards. It had this feeling of something special.” His affection for the U’s has stayed with Wood ever since. It’s the reason why he recently made what he calls the “absolute madman” decision to conclude a glorious career as a music agent – where he worked alongside grime stars including Tinie Tempah, Skepta…

I WAS THE MUSIC MAN

BEST&WORST SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY

XI BEST: Kevin Pressman, Roland Nilsson, Des Walker, Nigel Pearson, Nigel Worthington, Chris Waddle, John Sheridan, Carlton Palmer, Benito Carbone, Mark Bright, David Hirst. WORST: Ola Tidman, Ray Blackhall, Ashley Westwood, Danny Maddix, Jon Beswetherick, Chris Carr, Alan Harper, Craig Armstrong, Almen Abdi, Gilles De Bilde, David Graham. PLAYER B: Nilsson [right]. Not many players get to be all-time icons from right-back. Wednesday fans still talk about him having young Lee Sharpe in his pocket from the 1991 League Cup Final. W: Beswetherick gave the impression of trying to play at left-back with both legs tied together. MOMENT B: Despite bigger glories, winning the 2005 League One Play-off Final at the Millennium Stadium. Massive Wednesday noise, a Steve MacLean penalty late on to keep us in it, then two goals…

BEST&WORST SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY

BOY’S A BIT SPECIAL

CARLOS MENDES GOMES LUTON TOWN LOWDOWN From Dakar to Didsbury via Atletico Madrid, Mendes Gomes’ route to the Championship has been rather unconventional. Born in Senegal, he moved to Lanzarote, then Madrid as a teenager – spending time with both Getafe and Atletico – before the family swapped sunny Spain for, er, Salford. Morecambe spotted him in 2018 during a spell with 10th-tier West Didsbury & Chorlton, and the versatile forward’s 15 league goals fired the Shrimps into League One last season. Luton won the fight for his signature over the summer. HIGHLIGHT The emphatic penalty that earned Morecambe victory in last season’s League Two play-off final (right). He loves the spectacular. THEY SAID... “I haven’t seen anything like Mendes Gomes in all my years of developing players,” gushed former…

BOY’S A BIT SPECIAL

THE UNLIKELY LADS

STUART PEARCE LONGFORD (2016) CREDENTIALS 1990 World Cup semi-finalist. Euro 96 semi-finalist. Scorer in the 1991 FA Cup Final. Two-time League Cup winner. A top-flight player in every season bar one from 1983-84 to 2000-01. Quite a lot, really. Pearce forged a well-earned reputation as one of the most dependably terrifying left-backs in England, having been plucked from non-league with Wealdstone in his early 20s while famously working as an electrician. A Nottingham Forest legend in 12 seasons at the City Ground, Pearce also had stints at Premier League Newcastle and West Ham, plus a swansong season at second-tier Manchester City. Then, in January 2016, a 53-year-old Psycho agreed to turn out for Longford – bottom of Gloucestershire Northern Senior League Division Two... HOW’D IT GO? Not bad. Longford had…

THE UNLIKELY LADS

“YOU WONDER WHAT THESE OWNERS ARE GOING TO TRY NEXT. WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THEY CAN’T FLEECE WHAT ISN’T THEIRS TO FLEECE” I’ve played and managed at every level of English football, including the Premier League – and it’s been an honour and a joy to have spent my life doing that. But I’m also worried about this wonderful game, because some people at the top have too much power they’re trying to wield for their own means. What they don’t realise – or at least didn’t before last season – is that this game still belongs to the people and always will. Even if you can’t play it, you can become part of something as long as you live. Some owners are trying to make clubs their businesses,…

SALESMAN TO WEMBLEY FINALIST

“I THOUGHT FOOTBALL WAS DEAD FOR ME. THERE WERE NO CLUBS TO JOIN” Two curtailed seasons have left many non-league players praying for a first uninterrupted campaign in what feels like an age – but new Hereford signing Maziar Kouhyar will be even happier than most. After joining the Bulls for good this summer, the 23-year-old is looking to complete his first campaign since 2017-18, after two serious injuries that laid him up until March 2020 – when the UK went into lockdown. The former Walsall midfielder was left with little choice but to take jobs outside football, working initially at KFC before becoming a car salesman. “There were no clubs available to go to, and I needed a job because I was just sitting at home doing rehabilitation on…

SALESMAN TO WEMBLEY FINALIST

CLAIMS TO FAME CARDIFF CITY

1 CLEAN LIVING Cardiff won the 1927 FA Cup and remain the only non-English club to do so. Hughie Ferguson was the hero in a 1-0 defeat of Arsenal, though the last touch came off Gunners gloveman Dan Lewis, who blamed his slippery new woollen jersey. The error inspired a lasting Arsenal tradition of washing their keepers’ kits before every game. 2 REAL RATTLED The Welsh Cup offered a handy route into the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1971 – leading to victory over Real Madrid in their quarter-final first leg, as Brian Clark’s goal saw off Miguel Munoz’s giants at Ninian Park. They lost the return 2-0, but hey: still sounds good 50 years on. 3 IRANIAN INFLUENCE Cardiff fans regularly implore their players to ‘do the Ayatollah’, a celebration…

CLAIMS TO FAME CARDIFF CITY

“ON MY FIRST DAY AT BORO, PAUL INCE TOOK THE PISS AND SAID, ‘WE’VE SIGNED BOB THE BUILDER!’”

Before turning professional, you worked on a building site and in a factory – what was that like? I realised pretty quickly that I didn’t want to work on a building site or in a factory for the rest of my life – it was the perfect motivation to work on my fitness and keep chasing my dream. I had to carry a hod on my back up a set of ladders all day long, but it gave me great lower body strength and huge calves. After work every night, I’d go for a five-mile run with a couple of rugby players who lived near me, and my physicality improved a lot. You made your senior debut for Hull at 22 – that’s late for most footballers... It was the…

“ON MY FIRST DAY AT BORO, PAUL INCE TOOK THE PISS AND SAID, ‘WE’VE SIGNED BOB THE BUILDER!’”

“QUITTING UNITED WAS THE HARDEST DECISION OF MY LIFE – IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME, I’D NEVER LEAVE”

How did you become Manchester United’s assistant manager in 2002? Did you know Sir Alex Ferguson already? I was managing South Africa at the time. Sir Alex wanted an assistant with the ability to communicate, as he was opening the club to different cultures and languages. I was able to speak English and Portuguese, and I could also help with French and Italian. In Sir Alex’s straightforward style, he phoned a couple of guys to find out more about me. One of them was Quinton Fortune, who played for South Africa. Sir Alex then called me to ask if I could meet him in Manchester. I went there and we talked, shook hands and agreed the deal. It was a privilege to work alongside him for all those years, and…

“QUITTING UNITED WAS THE HARDEST DECISION OF MY LIFE – IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME, I’D NEVER LEAVE”

“AMERICAN FOOTBALL... WHY NOT? I’VE TRIED OUT WITH NFL COACHES – I’M IN THE TOP 30% OF KICKERS”

You’ve joined new MLS club Charlotte FC – how did the opportunity arise? I’ve been in touch with them for a couple of years and know them through Steve Walsh, who scouted me for Leicester. I know that when he’s a part of a programme, it’s bound to be good! It’s a great challenge. He told me all about their setup and what the plans are. When I visited Charlotte to finalise the deal, I saw their professionalism – it’s a well-run club and I was impressed with the facilities. You played alongside Raul during your first season at Schalke in 2011-12 – what was that experience like? He was a true gentleman. I played with him for one year, but he taught me many things. He was very humble…

“AMERICAN FOOTBALL... WHY NOT? I’VE TRIED OUT WITH NFL COACHES – I’M IN THE TOP 30% OF KICKERS”

“BEFORE JOINING READING IN 1992, I EARNED A DEGREE IN ENGINEERING AND INTERNED AT NASA”

How did you get into football growing up, and why did you become a goalkeeper? For as long as I can remember, I’ve played football. Everyone plays sport in Trinidad and Tobago – given the hot weather, you can play outdoors all year. Most people play football or cricket. I remember Trinidad and Tobago were putting together a national under-12s football team and my dad took me along to the regional trials. I’d never played in goal before, but as I was walking up to register for the try-outs, the coach looked at me and said, “You’re the tallest, you’re the keeper.” That was the first time I’d played in goal. I made the regional team and then eventually went on to make the national side. How did the Reading…

“BEFORE JOINING READING IN 1992, I EARNED A DEGREE IN ENGINEERING AND INTERNED AT NASA”

MY PERFECT XI ANDRE AYEW

STEVE MANDANDA “I played with Steve at Marseille. He was such a calm head and I saw him become the best goalkeeper in France for years. He never got the recognition he deserved, but he’s played at Marseille for almost his whole career and is a legend there.” CESAR AZPILICUETA “Cesar was always determined at Marseille. He got to training early and left late – he was so focused. When Chelsea made him their captain, I wasn’t surprised because I knew he was that kind of guy. You can rely on him. He has quality offensively and defensively.” JOHN MENSAH “John was our captain in the Ghana national team and known as ‘The Rock’ – I think he’s the best centre-back Ghana has had over the past 30 years. If…

MY PERFECT XI ANDRE AYEW

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