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Speaker 1: And we watched Diego Maradona four.

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Speaker 2: Joey said, I have.

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Speaker 1: I'm smaller than your father uncle. This check for ten

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Speaker 1: million pounds. You know, we just have a little problem

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Speaker 1: with three o'clock on Saturday afternoons.

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Speaker 2: That's when you played the game, right, Our boys will

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Speaker 2: rip in all ready to go, Robbie, I'm curious, like

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Speaker 2: a few years back now, the greatest, Diego Amandel Maradona passed.

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Speaker 2: Of course, now you put it a man of the

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Speaker 2: match performance against him in his international return, which was

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Speaker 2: huge worldwide news. He went straight after you after the game,

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Speaker 2: hug you said, Colorado, you're the best. His wife requested

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Speaker 2: your jersey, You gave it to him, and he gave

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Speaker 2: you some of his kit. Robbie, before we talk further

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Speaker 2: about him, did it impact you when he passed for

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Speaker 2: you when you heard the news, How did that make

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Speaker 2: you feel, given the fact that you must have felt

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Speaker 2: a bond.

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Speaker 1: With him, Yeah, like it was amazing and the things

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Speaker 1: he said after the game certainly helped me. It was

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Speaker 1: a moment of my career. It was the moment really,

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Speaker 1: although I'd been playing and playing and I'd broken through

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Speaker 1: and we'll go through that later. The journey to France.

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Speaker 1: But this like when I got back to England. You know,

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Speaker 1: the clubs were ringing, Blackburn, Liverpool, Leeds United, Italian clubs

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Speaker 1: ringing because of because Diego Cooper obviously said, and he

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Speaker 1: was right, this guy should be playing with the millionaires

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Speaker 1: in Italy. And I thought that'll do me.

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Speaker 2: Old.

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Speaker 1: I know, I was quite mature as a player. You know,

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Speaker 1: in those days, you were born in the NFL, which

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Speaker 1: is which was the equivalent to the A League today.

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Speaker 1: So I'd played I think one hundred and fifty one

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Speaker 1: hundred and sixty NFL games in a career that had

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Speaker 1: gone up and down, and as we'll find out later,

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Speaker 1: so very nearly through my own fault went nowhere. So

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Speaker 1: I was about playing that game twenty three, twenty four,

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Speaker 1: maybe twenty four. So I was a mature play It's

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Speaker 1: not like I was a kid. But when he talked,

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Speaker 1: when he talked at that time, everyone listened. Yeah, of course,

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Speaker 1: of course he was the king of the world at

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Speaker 1: that time. You know, he'd won the World Cup in

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Speaker 1: eighty six. They were still World vice champions when we

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Speaker 1: were playing them in ninety three because they got beaten

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Speaker 1: by Germany in the World Cup final in Italy. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: so you know, World Cup champions eighty six, the Maridonna

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Speaker 1: World Cup ninety ninety, Vice champions ninety three, playing Australia

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Speaker 1: to go to the USA. It didn't seem fair on us,

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Speaker 1: but and.

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Speaker 2: What a big one experience, and boys what it was

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Speaker 2: a massive story because when, of course he knocked out,

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Speaker 2: well it was when he knocked out to Italy in Naples,

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Speaker 2: the whole tedd turned on him and it got to

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Speaker 2: the point that he was hold up in his room,

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Speaker 2: basically in his house at Buenas Aires, and the whole

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Speaker 2: media from Argentina were banging on the gates saying you've

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Speaker 2: got to make a comeback, and he was shooting with

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Speaker 2: air rifles and then all of a sudden the news

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Speaker 2: came out He's making a comeback, and no less against

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Speaker 2: the soccer whos in Sydney.

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Speaker 1: They'd been beaten. So we played in those days the

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Speaker 1: fifth placed American team, the Oceania champion, which was invariably

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Speaker 1: invariably US. It was once New Zealand and we had

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Speaker 1: at times different routes, but at this time ninety three

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Speaker 1: it was Argentina who never finished fifth. I mean Brazil

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Speaker 1: Argentina one and two. Normally every common ball plays, but

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Speaker 1: this time they had to beat Columbia at home. We

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Speaker 1: would end up playing in the river Platete stadium, which

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Speaker 1: was the famous seventy eight World Cup final Mario Kempez

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Speaker 1: and all the ticket tape coming down, and we were

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Speaker 1: about to experience that. But they got beat five nil

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Speaker 1: by Tino a Spree as Columbia, which meant that we

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Speaker 1: were going to play and they were talking about it

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Speaker 1: on the ground and the camera went because all our

75
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Speaker 1: soccer is were watching the game at the same time,

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Speaker 1: and it was nighttime in France, and I remember the

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Speaker 1: phone going I know what yep it was, And I

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Speaker 1: remember the phone going. It was Arnie calling me from

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Speaker 1: from He was a neck braider in Holland or maybe Rhoda,

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Speaker 1: JC at that time, and he just went, Jesus, you

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Speaker 1: know a few adjectives. We're playing Maradonna. And I said,

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Speaker 1: how good's that he goes? And we're going home for

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Speaker 1: some vbs, which was always true.

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Speaker 2: So that's a second league you play, you play him

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Speaker 2: in the River played stadium there, the second league, the

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Speaker 2: second league? What was it like? How was Maradonna treated

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Speaker 2: in his hometown.

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Speaker 1: Mate God like, I mean literally, I don't know who

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Speaker 1: the president was at the time, but you the man

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Speaker 1: didn't walk, he floated. And there's the love for him.

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Speaker 1: I mean was like in Naples. He was loved that much.

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Speaker 1: In Naples, the mothers were very you know, was a

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Speaker 1: very religious city and they would have the Mother Mary,

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Speaker 1: you know, this little statue of Mother Mary on the thing,

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Speaker 1: and next to Diego, Maradona and Argentina was the same.

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Speaker 1: And because Diego had spoken to me about me, yeah,

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Speaker 1: there was no no any his level. But from an

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Speaker 1: Australian perspective, I was the hero for Australia, you know,

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Speaker 1: and because of what Diego said, everyone was looking for me.

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Speaker 1: And I remember arriving at the hotel in on his areas.

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Speaker 1: We actually didn't come out through the airport. They brought

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Speaker 1: the bus out to the tarmac and with jeez, with

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Speaker 1: just the soccer is this isn't new, so they ushered

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Speaker 1: us onto the bus and I always remember we're going

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Speaker 1: and were staying at the Sheraton in his area's beautiful

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Speaker 1: hotel and as we're approaching it was like late afternoon,

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Speaker 1: early evening, just about to go dark. But there was

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Speaker 1: all these people out the front of the hotel, and

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Speaker 1: as we got closer, it's there was hundreds of them,

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Speaker 1: you know. And I remember Arnie goes, he goes, bulldog,

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Speaker 1: look how big you are you? He goes, they're obviously

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Speaker 1: all waiting for me. Now me and me. At that stage,

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Speaker 1: I was prepared to believe anything, and I remember thinking, now,

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Speaker 1: come on, they're not here for me. And that's of

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Speaker 1: course he and all the boys will winding out. And

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Speaker 1: as we we actually got off the bus and security

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Speaker 1: ushered us in today all and the crowd cheered a

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Speaker 1: little bit, and and he goes, some of the players

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Speaker 1: go see if you make it, they love you. This

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Speaker 1: is Argentinas. Football is religion. So we're getting too the

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Speaker 1: hotel for you. And we walk up to the reception.

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Speaker 1: You had to get our rooms. And that night I

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Speaker 1: said to the billboy or obviously someone working, that's it.

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Speaker 1: You know, the crowd out there's pretty stage. He says,

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Speaker 1: Oh no, bon Jovi is staying on.

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Speaker 2: The twelve floor.

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Speaker 1: Oh okay, thanks.

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Speaker 3: On your What was it like when you go out

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Speaker 3: on the field and you look across and see you

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Speaker 3: married on there? Just back on him. Yeah, look how

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Speaker 3: nervous were you for that game? When you go.

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Speaker 1: Cooper, it's a great question and it's one I can

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Speaker 1: feel it like it was yesterday. Throw matter. You've got

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Speaker 1: moments in your career where you feel like you go

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Speaker 1: back like that and you're there and Diego there from

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Speaker 1: a press conference, I went to Sydney before the game

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Speaker 1: a couple of days before to when we played him,

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Speaker 1: it was just Laurence. It really was, you know, for

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Speaker 1: a soccer player back in those days, was he was

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Speaker 1: the pinnacle. I grew up watching him and he wasn't

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Speaker 1: a lot older than me, but I watched him when

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Speaker 1: I was a kid. At first time I ever saw

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Speaker 1: him and a guy called Johnny die was a camp.

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Speaker 1: It was a living camp at the University of New

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Speaker 1: South Wales and you know, the coaches got us all around.

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Speaker 1: It was a week long living camp and we watched

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Speaker 1: Diego Maradona in the under nineteen World Youth Championships and

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Speaker 1: I'd never seen a player like it, and nobody else had,

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Speaker 1: so from that moment on, he was just mythic. It

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Speaker 1: was godlike so to play against him made some of

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Speaker 1: the greatest players in the history of our game have

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Speaker 1: never played Maridonna. Yeah they haven't, you know, it's yeah,

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Speaker 1: when you so difficult to answer your question, nervous, I don't. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: maybe just everything together and joy, joy that you're on

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Speaker 1: the ground. And you know he was he was smaller

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Speaker 1: than your father. He loves that.

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Speaker 2: Remember his first touch market and he just leaned on

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Speaker 2: Paul Wade and then hit on with the little step

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Speaker 2: over on the byline and did the cross and it

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Speaker 2: was like.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's it, that's the difference. And he was coming

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Speaker 1: back from retirement, so he wasn't it his best, best,

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Speaker 1: best ever buen As Aries. He was player of the

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Speaker 1: match even though we drew, we only lost one nil.

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Speaker 1: But watching him walk and he had that strap madey

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Speaker 1: you know, the straut, the shoulders back, and people like

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Speaker 1: him got away with it because it was an aura

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Speaker 1: he had. Ah he entered the room or walked on

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Speaker 1: a football pitch, it was his.

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Speaker 2: Now, Robin, you played in summer, some huge leagues, big

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Speaker 2: clubs Belgium, France, England, of course, but from Sydney United.

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Speaker 2: Do you how do you end up in the European leagues?

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Speaker 1: I got no idea. I tried to stuff it up

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Speaker 1: so many times in fact, it got to the point

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Speaker 1: where my mom said, you've got to get a job.

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Speaker 1: And I was getting paid. You know, in those days

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Speaker 1: at Sydney United, which was Sydney Croatia, you'd get paid

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Speaker 1: in the paper bag, you know, depending on how well

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Speaker 1: you played, you got beat. Let's say, Slater, you played

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Speaker 1: like shit this week, so you get nothing. Well you

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Speaker 1: can't do that, Yes we can. And other weeks you'd

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Speaker 1: get double than what you thought. And that's the way

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Speaker 1: it was. And I remember them saying, look, you've got

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Speaker 1: to get a job. I said, well, I'm a professional footballer.

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Speaker 1: And my mam always used to say to my dad, yeah,

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Speaker 1: he's going to end up in jail if he doesn't go.

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Speaker 1: If he wants to go and be a football he's

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Speaker 1: got to go overseas. And you know, I I can't

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Speaker 1: say it was easy growing up. And I refer to

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Speaker 1: Johnny Warren's book, which was true in those days where

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Speaker 1: I grew up in Bankstown area, and that's what people

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Speaker 1: viewed you if you played soccer. My mates didn't even

193
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Speaker 1: know I played soccer. But anyway, going on from that,

194
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Speaker 1: I ended up getting selected. So I was quite a

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Speaker 1: good player in those days in the NFL and I

196
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Speaker 1: got selected to go to the Olympics and play for

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Speaker 1: Australia and that's where there was a Gold Cup tournament Brazil, Argentine,

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Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia. I got picked up from that and a

199
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Speaker 1: little bit of the Olympic Games and then I ended

200
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Speaker 1: up going to underleict But there was years I was

201
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Speaker 1: I was trying for years to go because there was

202
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Speaker 1: no one there. It's only Eddie Krunchovich and he's the

203
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Speaker 1: one that got me there. I gave him a tape

204
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Speaker 1: that a guy called Andy Pascalidi's made of some video

205
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Speaker 1: clips of me scoring goals in the NFL, you know,

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Speaker 1: and gave that to Eddie. He gave it to the

207
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Speaker 1: age and in Belgium and Bang I was underlected.

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Speaker 3: Man, What was what was the like in comparison to

209
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Speaker 3: Sydney United, Like for young soccer players in Australia listening

210
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Speaker 3: to this, what was the politic like? How was the

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Speaker 3: treatment of players different when you went over there?

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Speaker 1: The treatment of players in Europe? Yeah, it was chalk

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Speaker 1: and cheese. Yeah. I mean, the only way I could

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Speaker 1: explain it is it would be like, you know, a

215
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Speaker 1: rugby league player coming from another country and coming here,

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Speaker 1: you know, you're walking into football land, soccer land, and

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Speaker 1: you felt it big state like when I went to Underlect.

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Speaker 1: Underlect was one of the most successful clubs in Europe,

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Speaker 1: much bigger than they were today because the EPL and

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Speaker 1: all the other leagues have left Belgium behind. But under

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Speaker 1: Like were a massive club. In fact, the year I

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Speaker 1: was there, we played in the European Cup Winners Cup

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Speaker 1: final against Sampadoria and there was big players there, Milan Jankovich,

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Speaker 1: Mark de Grazer. They were a big club, but you

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Speaker 1: felt it. Massive stadium, training ground, the facilities. I felt

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Speaker 1: like a fish up a tree.

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Speaker 2: Well when you rite, what am I going to do

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Speaker 2: when you arrivee training like? You know, and like, yeah,

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Speaker 2: just difference, like almost in rugby league. Certainly in my

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Speaker 2: time it was almost like a monoculture. Everyone was saying,

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Speaker 2: but I imagine you're on the European clubs. It's just so different.

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Speaker 1: Mate. The young players looked at you, like do it.

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Speaker 1: The professional players looked at you with concern and doubt

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Speaker 1: because I'll tell you and you'll understand this and you

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Speaker 1: will as well. Anyone does. Really, but when you've played

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Speaker 1: at the highest level, and I had it a lot

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Speaker 1: throughout my career, even in the NFL. But every club

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Speaker 1: in Europe will be triallests that come. So they looked

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Speaker 1: at me a little bit like, you know, I walked in,

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Speaker 1: They've all got their cupboards and I just sit on

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Speaker 1: the side. There some gear for you and off we go.

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Speaker 1: So players will only ever respect you if you're any good.

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Speaker 1: So if you go out as so, before you go out,

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Speaker 1: they don't talk to you. But if you go out

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Speaker 1: and you show something and they'll talk to you afterwards.

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Speaker 1: Of course you're a good player, yes, that's right. But

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Speaker 1: if your crap all the currency it's all on performance,

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Speaker 1: they say, exhoes, you know he's decent. And I did

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Speaker 1: the same in the clubs, you know, when I went

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Speaker 1: from that stage to being established in Europe, when a

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Speaker 1: trialis said, come you go, is this black? It's actually

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Speaker 1: not a very nice way to be but it's not that.

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Speaker 1: But if that trial has performed you respect Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Do you find that was like the biggest difference over there,

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Speaker 3: because I know in Australia, like and like speaking from

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Speaker 3: experience at league, like a trialist would come in and

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Speaker 3: they might not be a very good player, but if

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Speaker 3: they're a good bloke, everyone would still get around them

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Speaker 3: and just sort, oh, yeah, you're a good bloke. But

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Speaker 3: over there it's just not mate.

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Speaker 1: If you're coming from Australia there, what are you doing you?

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Speaker 1: I mean, you know the cliche kangaroo. I mean every

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Speaker 1: club I went to I got called the kangaroo, you know,

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Speaker 1: and you know, what are you doing here? You know,

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Speaker 1: you guys because there was no one there. There was

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Speaker 1: only Craig Johnson had been. There was a guy called

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Speaker 1: Joe Marsden back in the even earlier times. It did

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Speaker 1: an amazing thing, played an f A Cup fine against

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Speaker 1: Stanley Matthews. That's not going to go there, Cooper for

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Speaker 1: you Stanley. But and then there was Eddie Krunchovich David Mitchell,

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Speaker 1: to be fair to him. And then then I came.

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Speaker 1: Farina came first and there was just a few of us.

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Speaker 1: Bosnich went and and that's when the Trailblazers they called us.

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Speaker 1: But it was tough at the time, but it was fun.

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Speaker 2: How did you perform?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, terrible, Well, not terrible because initially, obviously I proved

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Speaker 1: and I remember the coach who was a Dutch coach

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Speaker 1: and a very well known one. He said, you're an

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Speaker 1: Underlick player now, so you know you will be doing this.

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Speaker 1: And then one day, very early on, he called me

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Speaker 1: in and I remember he was getting a massage in

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Speaker 1: the physias room. He called me and he said we

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Speaker 1: have a problem. We can only play two foreigners and

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Speaker 1: you're a foreigner and I said yeah. He said, we

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Speaker 1: have seven, okay, but we're going to use you Belgium

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Speaker 1: Cup games. Anyway, that aside, I stuffed it up. I

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Speaker 1: had a girlfriend in Australia who wouldn't come. I had

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Speaker 1: this thing only I wanted to come. I flew back

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Speaker 1: to try and convince it to come. Tell them lied

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Speaker 1: to the club. Anyway, I stuffed it, literally stuffed it.

291
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Speaker 1: But I played a couple of Belgian Cup games, and

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Speaker 1: towards the end of the season I played in the

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Speaker 1: stiffs and did exceptionally well. So I turned it around,

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Speaker 1: but no way near. And I remember that there was

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Speaker 1: an article and I got interviewed by someone from under

296
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Speaker 1: Lecked about what happened? How come you successful in lns?

297
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Speaker 1: But it never happened, and this was the story.

298
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Speaker 2: What the circumstance just took it the lawns like you know,

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Speaker 2: if Ardleick was a struggle, then how did they capture

300
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Speaker 2: because they were although they were in the second league,

301
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Speaker 2: they are a big club.

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Speaker 1: Massive club who had fallen on hard times. They had

303
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Speaker 1: no money, so they were looking for bargains and vlood

304
00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:19,160
Speaker 1: through Eddie Kruntchovitch who had played at Mullu's the club

305
00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:21,960
Speaker 1: and not very successfully went from underlect to Mulus and

306
00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:25,200
Speaker 1: a big money transfer in the day. Anyway, Eddie was

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Speaker 1: looking after me. The end of that Endlich season, my

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00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:30,840
Speaker 1: girl finally come across, but I ha to pay for

309
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Speaker 1: the sister as well. But actually I always remember where

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Speaker 1: I was staying in the Lawns. I was when I

311
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Speaker 1: eventually got to Lines, and we'll tell that story third.

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Speaker 1: But this I mean Lownes and I had stayed in

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Speaker 1: the hotel for about three months looking for a place.

314
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Speaker 1: Lowns wasn't very big and it was hard to find

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Speaker 1: to join. So the two sisters are saying in my room,

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Speaker 1: quite attractive, and the concierge who was teaching me English

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Speaker 1: at the time, when when the girls were eventually gone,

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Speaker 1: he did explain to me that I was the hero

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Speaker 1: in the hotel, that the two.

320
00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:06,919
Speaker 2: Girls Robbie Hefner.

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Speaker 1: So that was quite hilarious. I didn't get that because

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Speaker 1: he'd always answered the door with a smile, you know,

323
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Speaker 1: like looking at he's here. But anyway, I went away.

324
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Speaker 1: So she came across and she was a lovely girl,

325
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Speaker 1: and so I was the sister. And now I actually

326
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Speaker 1: introduced Milan Yankovich, was a massive player from Red Star

327
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Speaker 1: Belgrade underlet and introduced them. And they're still together.

328
00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:34,119
Speaker 3: They live in Kensal to your ex girlfriend or to

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Speaker 3: your girlfriend's sister.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, Cairns in Australia.

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Speaker 1: They live over there. They live up there. So but anyway,

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Speaker 1: we just we went on holidays to Kraatier and we

333
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Speaker 1: went to Dobrovnik. Any Crunchy was going with his wife Maggie,

334
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Speaker 1: and we're all to meet in Dubrovnick and do what

335
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Speaker 1: you do during the And I was to put a

336
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Speaker 1: very difficult season, try and sort it out with my

337
00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:04,800
Speaker 1: girlfriend to stay and so my career. But I was

338
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Speaker 1: very conscious of the fact that the year end gone

339
00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:11,160
Speaker 1: that well, I would be starting off in the stiffs.

340
00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,840
Speaker 1: They might even release me under leed, and so I

341
00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,280
Speaker 1: was there to sort my head out. Two days in

342
00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:21,240
Speaker 1: phone goes, it's Floody Pavkevich. That's my agent who brought

343
00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:23,800
Speaker 1: me over and Eddie Cuntry. He says, I've got this

344
00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:26,600
Speaker 1: club for you and there's a trial one in three

345
00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:30,360
Speaker 1: days time. I said, yeah, but Floody, I'm on holidays

346
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Speaker 1: in Dubrovnick. That's in the northern France. Who is this

347
00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:35,760
Speaker 1: He goes, it's a club called Lungs. They're in the

348
00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:38,760
Speaker 1: second division, but they're a big club. Me having a

349
00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:42,240
Speaker 1: big head on, thinking yeah, I'm an international and second

350
00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:46,080
Speaker 1: division France man. Forget about Floody. I'm on holidays. How

351
00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:48,480
Speaker 1: am I going to get back? What a trial game?

352
00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:52,760
Speaker 1: I said, no, mate, So I hung up, and obviously

353
00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:57,600
Speaker 1: Vladi flood had spoken to Eddie. Eddie comes marching in.

354
00:18:57,640 --> 00:18:59,920
Speaker 1: We're meeting down for lunch and he comes marching in

355
00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:03,440
Speaker 1: and he grabs me and collar you know that, And

356
00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:05,479
Speaker 1: he said, mate, what do you doing? I said, there

357
00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:08,800
Speaker 1: do you right? He goes, I just spoke to blood.

358
00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:12,600
Speaker 1: He said you're gone. I said, come on, mate, second

359
00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,840
Speaker 1: division since readA, I'm not fit. Where how's it going

360
00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:18,520
Speaker 1: to go? He goes, I don't give up. You know

361
00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:22,040
Speaker 1: what you can take. I've spoken to miland you can

362
00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:25,040
Speaker 1: take his car and you can drive yourself back to Brussels.

363
00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:27,880
Speaker 1: Floody will pick you up from the apartment and he'll

364
00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:31,639
Speaker 1: drive you to Lunes. Oh. And he said, mate, do

365
00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:34,080
Speaker 1: this or you're done. You'll be back in Australia. So

366
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Speaker 1: I sort of shrugged him off, and I was a

367
00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:42,720
Speaker 1: bit angry, and and I went for a walk and

368
00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:45,800
Speaker 1: something dawned on me. It did it dropped. I said, okay,

369
00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:48,800
Speaker 1: this is kind of serious. Eddie's never done that. He's

370
00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,000
Speaker 1: never got anger with me. In spite of the crappy

371
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Speaker 1: I had a underlecked where I used to drive to

372
00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:55,800
Speaker 1: his house to have lunch on Sundays and he treat

373
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Speaker 1: me like a king and his wife. So I did it.

374
00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:00,920
Speaker 1: I went and saw Milan and Alan said the same thing.

375
00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:03,000
Speaker 1: He said, you got to go. So I took that

376
00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:05,840
Speaker 1: you had a blue blue Mercedes, which was quite state

377
00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:09,680
Speaker 1: of the art at the day. At the time thought

378
00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:13,680
Speaker 1: because we drove there, but Milan drove I didn't take

379
00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:17,400
Speaker 1: any notice. You know, you literally went from Bressett's through Luxembourg,

380
00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:21,520
Speaker 1: I think a tip of Germany into Austria, up the

381
00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:27,280
Speaker 1: mountains Lubiana and then down through Reijk, but we went

382
00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:32,040
Speaker 1: to Belgate. So we went to Belgrade Mosta Sarajevo. And

383
00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:34,320
Speaker 1: this was a year before the war broke out, so

384
00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:37,840
Speaker 1: there was a lot of tension. But anyway, at that

385
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Speaker 1: time with Dubrovnik, So the next day I stayed. That

386
00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:45,040
Speaker 1: did I stay that day? I must have, because I

387
00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:47,600
Speaker 1: left the next morning. I only had two days to

388
00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:50,400
Speaker 1: get three was in the third day. Anyway, I left

389
00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:54,480
Speaker 1: the next morning and I took and there was no

390
00:20:54,600 --> 00:21:00,000
Speaker 1: GPS in those days. Do your best, That's what Eddie

391
00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:02,520
Speaker 1: did the night before we go. You go through Raijika

392
00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:05,119
Speaker 1: and that's along the mountains and it all sounds easy,

393
00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:07,800
Speaker 1: and then up through Lubiana and back the way we'd

394
00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:12,240
Speaker 1: come Austria Salzburg, Germany, which was a hoot because the

395
00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:14,879
Speaker 1: order barns, I mean the car. I don't know what

396
00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:16,880
Speaker 1: I was doing two hundred but there was still porsches

397
00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:20,040
Speaker 1: flying past me. But anyway, so I took off and

398
00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:24,320
Speaker 1: I did say it. I thought I was gonna die.

399
00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:29,360
Speaker 1: From from Dubrovnik past Split to Raijika, there was this

400
00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:33,119
Speaker 1: mountain road. It was dark, it was raining even though

401
00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:35,160
Speaker 1: it was the morning time, but and it was slippery

402
00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:38,920
Speaker 1: and I remember coming around a hairpin and losing it

403
00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:41,280
Speaker 1: and there was a car on the other in the

404
00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:45,879
Speaker 1: other lane, and I don't know time. I liken it

405
00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:51,200
Speaker 1: now to something approaching the event horizon and the black hole.

406
00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:55,120
Speaker 1: Time slows down. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Protons and neutrons start

407
00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:58,439
Speaker 1: to collapse, all right, And that's what I felt like.

408
00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:00,960
Speaker 1: I was slowing down as I'm going towards this barrier

409
00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,480
Speaker 1: and made the drop. Was unbelievadb.

410
00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:07,600
Speaker 2: We we did it recently. We did, me and my mate.

411
00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:11,399
Speaker 2: We did a similar drive. We didn't drive had We

412
00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:14,400
Speaker 2: had a bloke who volunteered. He was talking on the phone.

413
00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:17,080
Speaker 2: All he was doing was playing and then playing with

414
00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:20,879
Speaker 2: his playing with the radio station and literally it's sheer

415
00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:23,080
Speaker 2: shifts cliffs either side.

416
00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:24,560
Speaker 1: That's it, mate.

417
00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:27,439
Speaker 2: It was terrifying, that's right.

418
00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:30,080
Speaker 1: And I was in control it and sliding and the

419
00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:34,119
Speaker 1: last minute it's just managed to ride itself and it

420
00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:38,159
Speaker 1: actually touched the barrier. And then from there on, I'm like,

421
00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:41,840
Speaker 1: how long take you to give me twenty two hours

422
00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:44,920
Speaker 1: to drive back to straight? I drive straight. The only

423
00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:50,280
Speaker 1: stops for survoys for quick coffee or drink something to eat.

424
00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:52,239
Speaker 1: And I got back to the apartment. I remember it

425
00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:55,280
Speaker 1: was the evening and I was leaving the next morning

426
00:22:56,920 --> 00:22:58,600
Speaker 1: for the game. And I got to there and I

427
00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:02,280
Speaker 1: were stuff iscause where the apartment was was you know, Brussels,

428
00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:05,600
Speaker 1: there's a cafe on every so I thought I'll just

429
00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:09,080
Speaker 1: go a couple. Yes. I walked down to the bar,

430
00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,440
Speaker 1: which is literally fifty meters and sat down and had one.

431
00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:14,600
Speaker 1: Driven twenty to I sol and slept. But you know

432
00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:17,200
Speaker 1: how good It's like jet laid beers. They're great. Yeah,

433
00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:19,639
Speaker 1: you know, they just have one and you're already and

434
00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:21,680
Speaker 1: then you say, yeah, yeah, So I reckon, I'd seven

435
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:28,480
Speaker 1: or eight low Burgs okay, And I stumbled home and

436
00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:30,919
Speaker 1: went sleep, got picked up the next one. I probably

437
00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:34,160
Speaker 1: got good twelve hours because it was quite early, and

438
00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:37,960
Speaker 1: Vlood picked me up. From then off we went. It

439
00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,040
Speaker 1: was only an hour and a half drive. Had the

440
00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:42,879
Speaker 1: game go, yeah, But before that there was a bit

441
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:45,919
Speaker 1: of like we drove into so this area you co

442
00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:49,280
Speaker 1: pass so Belgium border. Then there's lil which is a

443
00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:52,000
Speaker 1: beautiful city, and then you get to longs Now. Longs

444
00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:57,880
Speaker 1: is coal mining ancient coal mining town. Hard people, very

445
00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:03,840
Speaker 1: poor and not very nice, like this slag heaps as

446
00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:06,640
Speaker 1: you go in, massive like mountains of them. I said,

447
00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,560
Speaker 1: But I said, it's not very attractive here, and we

448
00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:11,600
Speaker 1: kept going. We drove into the town center. It was

449
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:14,000
Speaker 1: on a Sunday, now it was a Monday, but a

450
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:17,919
Speaker 1: public holiday, so everything was closed. The town was dirty,

451
00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:24,320
Speaker 1: tiny and depressing, and there was only one coffee shop open.

452
00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:28,000
Speaker 1: And later when I went there there was better parts

453
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:29,879
Speaker 1: of it right, but where he drove in it was

454
00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:33,280
Speaker 1: called the garden or, which is the station, the major

455
00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:36,840
Speaker 1: train station, deserted, one coffee shop open. We went in.

456
00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:41,600
Speaker 1: There's two blogs in there who were fighting, and we

457
00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:44,080
Speaker 1: sat down. I went, your kidnap me. I said, I'm

458
00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:46,919
Speaker 1: going to leave here. I said, you know there was,

459
00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:50,679
Speaker 1: I mean there was. From what I could see, they

460
00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:53,880
Speaker 1: looked like about ten streets, fifteen twenty streets and shops

461
00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:58,919
Speaker 1: and yeah, just no people. Anyway, we're there, and I

462
00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:00,920
Speaker 1: watched these guys fighting and I said, this is great,

463
00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:03,879
Speaker 1: which and I wasn't feeling that because I don't trained

464
00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:06,880
Speaker 1: for days. I've driven and anyway, we drive down. He says,

465
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,760
Speaker 1: we'll go to the stadium. We're meeting the sporting director

466
00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:11,840
Speaker 1: who's going to take us to the game. Because it's

467
00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:15,400
Speaker 1: not at the main stadium. I go. So we drive

468
00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:18,200
Speaker 1: down this street, not far from the garden nor it's

469
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,400
Speaker 1: one street, big set of lights, and across the road

470
00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:26,280
Speaker 1: to the left you see stud the bollard, which is stadium,

471
00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:30,879
Speaker 1: but it's all woods, as they call it, trees, and

472
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:32,800
Speaker 1: you go. Then you go across the lights, you go

473
00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:35,320
Speaker 1: up this lame way for about half a kilometer and

474
00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:37,320
Speaker 1: then it sort of opens up a bit, and then

475
00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:41,760
Speaker 1: I went. I remember saying, I said, what's that. That's

476
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,560
Speaker 1: the stadium. The stadium was dead set, ten times bigger

477
00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:49,040
Speaker 1: than the town. It was massive, it was mythical, and

478
00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:50,720
Speaker 1: there was no one there. There was There was one

479
00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:52,920
Speaker 1: car in the car park. He had no he hadn't

480
00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:56,280
Speaker 1: arrived yet, so we just parked and I went, okay,

481
00:25:57,040 --> 00:25:59,880
Speaker 1: nothing like a sportsman when you see something like that, Yeah,

482
00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:02,960
Speaker 1: it sort of changes your perspective. And I remember we're

483
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:04,399
Speaker 1: waiting and I said, I'm just going to go for

484
00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:07,399
Speaker 1: a walk over to the stadium. And it was open

485
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:09,159
Speaker 1: and you could walk. And I remember walking up the

486
00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:13,560
Speaker 1: steps and this is dead set true again like yesterday.

487
00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:15,399
Speaker 1: And I walked to the top of steps and I

488
00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:19,400
Speaker 1: glazed out in this massive, fifty five thousand Cedar. Well,

489
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:23,000
Speaker 1: it wasn't Cedar in those days. It was Cedar and Terrace.

490
00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,800
Speaker 1: And I looked at the ground perfect and I remember

491
00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:31,639
Speaker 1: saying to myself in my head, I'm going to play it.

492
00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:35,680
Speaker 1: I had a feeling, I had a premonition that this

493
00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:38,520
Speaker 1: is going to happen. I don't know, but I could

494
00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:41,399
Speaker 1: just say, I want to play you yep. So we

495
00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:44,520
Speaker 1: went back to the car. The guy arrived and we

496
00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:48,199
Speaker 1: jumped in his car. Now we followed him and we

497
00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:50,399
Speaker 1: drive all this way out to this little ground. It

498
00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:53,080
Speaker 1: was a little ground, a little suburban ground. It was

499
00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:56,159
Speaker 1: a stadium, but it would have held five thousand people.

500
00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:58,560
Speaker 1: But when we arrived, all of as I noticed was

501
00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:02,320
Speaker 1: supporters everywhere in the summer yaw, which is called blood

502
00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:05,520
Speaker 1: and gold is their colors red and yellow to make

503
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,919
Speaker 1: an exact transition, And they were waving flags and they

504
00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:12,080
Speaker 1: were everywhere in the streets, and there's thousands of them.

505
00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:15,720
Speaker 1: I thought, this is a friendly game, isn't it. And

506
00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:19,720
Speaker 1: that goes, yeah, this club's big club. He says, they're mad.

507
00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:22,800
Speaker 1: He says the supporters are known as the best supporters

508
00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:26,840
Speaker 1: in France. That's true to this day, I go, wow, okay,

509
00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:29,600
Speaker 1: I've got a bag out and I went over and

510
00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:31,800
Speaker 1: I ended up in the dressing room and met players

511
00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:35,520
Speaker 1: and then you could hear the supporters. The whole stadium

512
00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:37,800
Speaker 1: was full. There must have been three or four thousand,

513
00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:40,399
Speaker 1: but you know when it's a small stadium, it just fills.

514
00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:46,160
Speaker 1: We're playing a team called Rams Runs where the champagne

515
00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:49,120
Speaker 1: Champagne comes from. And I had no idea. I didn't

516
00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:53,920
Speaker 1: know lines was Runs. Can we just And there was

517
00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:56,360
Speaker 1: one guy who spoke English who would become my best man.

518
00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:59,640
Speaker 1: You have two in France, Roger Bolly and John Gie

519
00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:03,639
Speaker 1: Volume big stars at the club, and John Gi was

520
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:05,960
Speaker 1: the captain and he spoke a little bit of English

521
00:28:06,119 --> 00:28:08,879
Speaker 1: and he tried to help me through. It was genuinely nice,

522
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:11,520
Speaker 1: and I was just like, yeah, great. In my mind,

523
00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:14,040
Speaker 1: I think let's just play. And then we warmed up

524
00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:18,040
Speaker 1: on the stand and I started getting a better sort

525
00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:21,359
Speaker 1: of film. But what I felt Cooper made is I

526
00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:25,080
Speaker 1: just feel comfortable. I just thought, whatever happens happens, I'll

527
00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:28,200
Speaker 1: just do my best. I haven't trained, I haven't prepared

528
00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:32,160
Speaker 1: for this, and made I played the game. I scored three,

529
00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:36,680
Speaker 1: We won seven mil I set up to score three,

530
00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:40,200
Speaker 1: and I wasn't a big goal scorer. And it's funny

531
00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:43,360
Speaker 1: the president after that because years lady said you got us,

532
00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:45,760
Speaker 1: they didn you scored three in that person, you scored

533
00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:49,840
Speaker 1: five and four years And anyway, at the end of

534
00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:54,000
Speaker 1: the game, all the supporters are running to me and

535
00:28:54,040 --> 00:29:01,920
Speaker 1: they're grabbing me and and but it was true, and

536
00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:05,040
Speaker 1: that was an amazing feeling. I'm tingling now and I

537
00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:08,080
Speaker 1: feel it, and I was just love it. I didn't

538
00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:09,920
Speaker 1: say anything because I couldn't understand what they're saying, but

539
00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:13,080
Speaker 1: they were grabbed me. I mean some had the foul spreads.

540
00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:18,000
Speaker 1: I mean, forget about Lister remat. They needed domestos. But

541
00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:20,680
Speaker 1: I let them do it and they were great and

542
00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:24,280
Speaker 1: they were happy. And then this guy comes out, well dressed,

543
00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:28,640
Speaker 1: suit tie, and he walks out and he says to

544
00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:32,080
Speaker 1: me in perfect English, I am the president of LONZ.

545
00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:35,600
Speaker 1: I want you to sign for us. It's the last words.

546
00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:38,040
Speaker 1: And he walked away. And that's the last words of

547
00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:41,120
Speaker 1: English I ever heard him ever say. So someone must

548
00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:44,240
Speaker 1: have taught him to say it. And he became a

549
00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:47,440
Speaker 1: very close friend because I became very attached to this

550
00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:50,560
Speaker 1: club for the five years I was there. But after

551
00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:54,280
Speaker 1: that game flooded this big smile and I told you,

552
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:57,040
Speaker 1: I told you, I told you. I went. I felt

553
00:29:57,080 --> 00:30:01,760
Speaker 1: really strange. And the coach who didn't last he lasted

554
00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:06,120
Speaker 1: two years, but he really taught me so much. I know,

555
00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:08,520
Speaker 1: just suntists. He came up and shook my hand, no English,

556
00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:11,920
Speaker 1: and he just winked at me and he left. And

557
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,360
Speaker 1: the mean I drove back to Brussels and said they

558
00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:18,320
Speaker 1: won't Yeah, yeah, wow, I'll sign you tomorrow.

559
00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:20,760
Speaker 2: Five years there, Robbie four years, four years and a half,

560
00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:23,400
Speaker 2: played great played great football there.

561
00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:25,880
Speaker 1: That was, if I'm brutally honest, I know I won

562
00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:29,400
Speaker 1: the English Premier League with Rovers. Yeah, black black bonds.

563
00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:32,960
Speaker 1: But my best year is the Maradonna year. Is those

564
00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:36,080
Speaker 1: games all fell when I was in lungs because I

565
00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:39,760
Speaker 1: was at that age. I was twenty four to twenty

566
00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:42,920
Speaker 1: nine and your peak, your peak, I mean I was.

567
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:46,080
Speaker 1: I can say it now because I don't care what

568
00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:48,640
Speaker 1: anyone thinks, but I was flying. Yeah yeah, and even

569
00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:51,120
Speaker 1: like people like Les Murray I remember, you know, and

570
00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:52,719
Speaker 1: a lot of people back in the start, I was

571
00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:55,720
Speaker 1: our number one player at that stage. That was coming

572
00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:59,600
Speaker 1: from them yep, but not many people knew about it

573
00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:05,800
Speaker 1: because was in France. In France, so my profile went

574
00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:09,600
Speaker 1: when ironically my best football was in France. But when

575
00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:13,120
Speaker 1: so I signed for black mant Ravers my profile and

576
00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:15,120
Speaker 1: you just talked about superstuff.

577
00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:18,040
Speaker 3: So you signed with Blackburn Rovers over in the EPL.

578
00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:20,280
Speaker 3: How hard a decision was up for you to go

579
00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:22,640
Speaker 3: over there after obviously you're enjoying football.

580
00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:26,000
Speaker 1: Was very very hard because I loved and I still do.

581
00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:28,080
Speaker 1: I was back there last year. I've still got a

582
00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:32,720
Speaker 1: fan club, believe and and it was specially I went

583
00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:35,720
Speaker 1: back for a couple of testimonials over the years and

584
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:38,760
Speaker 1: I loved the place. And I went back a year

585
00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:42,880
Speaker 1: ago with young Matthew, didn't I Matthew Matthew my son,

586
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:48,360
Speaker 1: and he came with me and we went to England first.

587
00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:53,200
Speaker 1: And in England, you know people sort of because it's

588
00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:56,000
Speaker 1: been a long long time. Not many people knew unless

589
00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:57,560
Speaker 1: you said who you were. They didn't sort of know

590
00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:01,360
Speaker 1: who you were. But soon lines everywhere everywhere I went,

591
00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:03,720
Speaker 1: but it would come, oh, Robbie, you know, in the

592
00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:06,520
Speaker 1: coffee shop. And Maddie loved it. He said, oh, they

593
00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:09,000
Speaker 1: really like you England.

594
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:15,600
Speaker 2: You never get this adulated at home, Robbie before we

595
00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:18,840
Speaker 2: talk about Blackburn rovers and now you're saying you must

596
00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:21,520
Speaker 2: have really loved lines given the fact that who come

597
00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:27,920
Speaker 2: head hunting your supporter. But PSG fans are renowned as

598
00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:31,440
Speaker 2: some of the most hardcore in world sport, not just football,

599
00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:34,640
Speaker 2: world sport. Nearly well nearly lost your life.

600
00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:37,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, Like I never met them, and I can't even

601
00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:40,479
Speaker 1: remember what they looked like because it came from behind,

602
00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:45,240
Speaker 1: but you know from witnesses. Yeah, to start anyway, start

603
00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:48,720
Speaker 1: the story, it's what year was it? I think it

604
00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:51,000
Speaker 1: was my second last year. We played Paris and Jermaine

605
00:32:51,480 --> 00:32:53,600
Speaker 1: and I've just been awarded oce only a Player of

606
00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:56,200
Speaker 1: the Year for the second time, and that was done

607
00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:59,040
Speaker 1: the night before. We played Paris and Jermaine and we

608
00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:01,560
Speaker 1: lost three nil. They were very good side at that time,

609
00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:03,680
Speaker 1: not as good as they were now. Marseille was the

610
00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:07,080
Speaker 1: big team in France at that time. And then next day,

611
00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:09,800
Speaker 1: three o'clock in the afternoon, walking down the main street

612
00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:14,880
Speaker 1: of Lnce packed because that was a major day shopping Saturday,

613
00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:21,320
Speaker 1: harbors in lawns and I was walking down the street.

614
00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:24,080
Speaker 1: Shops were on the left where it happened. There was

615
00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:26,280
Speaker 1: a shoe shop, which because that's where I woke up,

616
00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:29,960
Speaker 1: inside the shoe shop. So apparently two Paris and Jamain

617
00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:35,080
Speaker 1: fans walked past on that side of me. So Natalie

618
00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:38,400
Speaker 1: was with my wife this side of me. They pulled

619
00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:41,320
Speaker 1: out a baseball bat and he hit me from behind,

620
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:45,680
Speaker 1: like full whammy, and I went down, of course, and

621
00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:50,560
Speaker 1: I can't remember anything in those whether it was seconds

622
00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:54,320
Speaker 1: minute and I fell into the gutter. This year was

623
00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:57,600
Speaker 1: split down the middle hanging off. But he went to

624
00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,480
Speaker 1: hit me again while I was in the gutter, and

625
00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:05,760
Speaker 1: that probably would have been curtains. But Natalie jumped on

626
00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:08,160
Speaker 1: him and a couple of other people in the street

627
00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:10,239
Speaker 1: and there was a scuffle and they run off. I mean,

628
00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:13,239
Speaker 1: Natalie is my first Dix wife. She sort of she

629
00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:21,719
Speaker 1: regrets that bloody want hit you again. Well, I'm very

630
00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:24,240
Speaker 1: good friends with both my ex wives, so it's fine.

631
00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:26,440
Speaker 3: But was that a planned attack or was it?

632
00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:29,839
Speaker 1: I have no idea. No, the good story comes after.

633
00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:34,200
Speaker 1: It's a bit like you know, detectives and like you

634
00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:37,840
Speaker 1: know Jack Ryan, Jack's a bad analogy. Anyway, I just

635
00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:41,960
Speaker 1: tell her, So I'm in hospital. I woke up in

636
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:45,480
Speaker 1: that shoe shop, and I'm laying in the bed. And

637
00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:49,000
Speaker 1: the next day because I was out cold for well,

638
00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:54,840
Speaker 1: not out cold, but I was out, two detectives walked in,

639
00:34:56,000 --> 00:35:01,840
Speaker 1: two French speak to clus Steve Martin a great film

640
00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:08,200
Speaker 1: Panther Favorites, and they said, oh, look we know who

641
00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:12,600
Speaker 1: did it. Yeah, this was all in French. And you

642
00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:17,360
Speaker 1: know they're what they call what they called in France gypsies.

643
00:35:18,239 --> 00:35:21,640
Speaker 1: So there they live in caravans. They tried Mercedes Benz

644
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:24,920
Speaker 1: and they you know, everyone had told me or were

645
00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:27,480
Speaker 1: about to tell me, that they commit well over fifty

646
00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:32,080
Speaker 1: percent of the murders and in France, and and I

647
00:35:32,120 --> 00:35:34,640
Speaker 1: spoke to the detectives. They left, President coming and he

648
00:35:34,680 --> 00:35:38,040
Speaker 1: said don't you dare He said don't and everyone said

649
00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:41,600
Speaker 1: just let it go, because he said they're capable of

650
00:35:41,840 --> 00:35:44,879
Speaker 1: just getting charged. They've just come up to your house

651
00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:48,160
Speaker 1: out in front of and street and they'll never find them.

652
00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:52,319
Speaker 1: So I didn't. Obviously I didn't press any charges, but

653
00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:55,080
Speaker 1: it was quite a big deal. Funnily enough, I wasn't

654
00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:57,600
Speaker 1: out for that long. I was probably missed two games,

655
00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:00,560
Speaker 1: and I was back back into it, back into it.

656
00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:04,080
Speaker 2: But it was right another massive moment in your life

657
00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:07,840
Speaker 2: because you know you're a Liverpool fan. Your dad's a Scouser,

658
00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:11,120
Speaker 2: is that.

659
00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:14,600
Speaker 1: Mate? The town of.

660
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:17,200
Speaker 2: Blackburn, who we we lived just a stone throw from,

661
00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:26,200
Speaker 2: so Jack Walker, who's the He was a local entrepreneur

662
00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:28,480
Speaker 2: who basically just said, right, this is what I'm going

663
00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:31,279
Speaker 2: to do, and I'm going to really just lift this

664
00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:34,440
Speaker 2: team and assemble this amazing squad and went out head

665
00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:35,520
Speaker 2: hunted Kenny Doug.

666
00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:38,719
Speaker 1: Leash no less and Ken third division.

667
00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:41,560
Speaker 2: Third division and he come and got you, Kenny.

668
00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:42,080
Speaker 1: He come and got me.

669
00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:44,640
Speaker 2: That must when he when he when he came calling,

670
00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:45,600
Speaker 2: you must have been well.

671
00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:47,200
Speaker 1: The funny thing is I was supposed to sign for

672
00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:49,400
Speaker 1: a Villa. I spent a week with Villa with Bosa

673
00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:53,839
Speaker 1: and I was actually with Ron Atkinson talking to him.

674
00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:58,520
Speaker 1: You know, we weren't talking terms. It was the terms

675
00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:00,319
Speaker 1: means you know how much are gonna get paid week?

676
00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:03,600
Speaker 1: But we agreed and you know we want you. I said, yeah,

677
00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:07,960
Speaker 1: come okay, Dad. It was all done basically apart from terms.

678
00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:10,960
Speaker 1: David Hodson, my manager, we walked out into the car park.

679
00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:14,040
Speaker 1: He pulled out his mobile phone which was about we're

680
00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:16,799
Speaker 1: not one of those one of the first ones ever,

681
00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:20,040
Speaker 1: he needed two hands to lift it. And he walked

682
00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:21,560
Speaker 1: over into and I was sitting in the car and

683
00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:24,040
Speaker 1: he come back and he goes, well, guess what. I

684
00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:27,480
Speaker 1: said what? And he goes, I guess was on the

685
00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:31,920
Speaker 1: phone and I said, tell me it's Kenny Douglas. I

686
00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:35,319
Speaker 1: went all right. He goes, yeah, he wants you up

687
00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:38,560
Speaker 1: the road. Now he'll sign you this afternoon. Wow. So

688
00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:42,520
Speaker 1: we didn't even tell Villa and we drove up the

689
00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:46,280
Speaker 1: road and I signed that afternoon for black Men Rovers

690
00:37:46,520 --> 00:37:49,120
Speaker 1: because it was Kenny. The money in those days, there

691
00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:53,200
Speaker 1: wasn't a great difference. My film was better because isn't

692
00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:53,560
Speaker 1: it funny?

693
00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:55,839
Speaker 2: So like sir Jack Walker looking back there, now there

694
00:37:55,920 --> 00:37:58,080
Speaker 2: was all these there's been all this progression of money

695
00:37:58,080 --> 00:38:00,319
Speaker 2: coming into the game, and he was like you for

696
00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:02,479
Speaker 2: a private owner to punish all that sort of money.

697
00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:05,200
Speaker 2: It was at first, and then of course they started,

698
00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:08,320
Speaker 2: you know, basically were shares and started on the stock market.

699
00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:11,440
Speaker 2: Now of course it's Saudi money, but you know, to

700
00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:14,480
Speaker 2: assemble a great squad. And they signed a pretty good

701
00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:19,160
Speaker 2: young striker too from Southampton called Alan Shearer. Yeah, pretty decent.

702
00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:21,640
Speaker 2: What was like, how did you find compare from launch

703
00:38:21,719 --> 00:38:23,880
Speaker 2: to go into the training field and the set up

704
00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:25,360
Speaker 2: at Blackburn. How big this was?

705
00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:28,520
Speaker 1: It? Well, it was pretty underwhelming at the start because

706
00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:30,920
Speaker 1: they didn't have a training ground. The training when I

707
00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:34,720
Speaker 1: signed were training on the school fields and not private

708
00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:37,759
Speaker 1: school fields if you know what I mean. Yeah, But

709
00:38:37,880 --> 00:38:40,319
Speaker 1: obviously there was Shearer, there was Sutton who was a

710
00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:45,040
Speaker 1: record signing at that time five million pound and on

711
00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:48,439
Speaker 1: record money. Although I know Shira would have had a match.

712
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:52,360
Speaker 1: You know, whoever comes in he matches twelve thousand pounds

713
00:38:52,400 --> 00:38:56,680
Speaker 1: a week at that time. Imagine that. I mean Division

714
00:38:56,719 --> 00:38:59,680
Speaker 1: three players again that now, but he was the top

715
00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:02,600
Speaker 1: player player at that time. Ian Wright, one of the

716
00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:05,239
Speaker 1: best players ever for Arsenal, was earning five thousand pounds

717
00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:09,520
Speaker 1: a week. Extraordinary. Today he'd be winning five hundred thousand

718
00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:14,359
Speaker 1: pounds incredible. But yeah it was and Kenny, you know,

719
00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:17,000
Speaker 1: and the whole thing. And black Men had finished second

720
00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:19,839
Speaker 1: to Man United. And I remember when that afternoon when

721
00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:22,279
Speaker 1: I signed for Rovers before I because I went to

722
00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:25,160
Speaker 1: a hotel before I went to the ground to meet Kenny,

723
00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:28,520
Speaker 1: and there was a guy journalists who wrote for the

724
00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:32,080
Speaker 1: Liverpool Echo. You probably remember that those local papers dyed

725
00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:35,200
Speaker 1: in the days and I said, Mate, Villa was a

726
00:39:35,239 --> 00:39:39,320
Speaker 1: good experience with your walks there and Baser obviously, and

727
00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:42,920
Speaker 1: he said, Robbie, he said, yeah, but black men are

728
00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:45,200
Speaker 1: going to win something this year. I know what they're

729
00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:47,759
Speaker 1: going to win, but they're going to win something. And

730
00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:50,319
Speaker 1: his words were true, and his words made me go,

731
00:39:51,239 --> 00:39:52,040
Speaker 1: you're probably right.

732
00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:54,640
Speaker 2: So you're you're you're the first trained to win the

733
00:39:54,680 --> 00:39:55,479
Speaker 2: Premier League title.

734
00:39:55,600 --> 00:39:56,839
Speaker 3: That was very very rare.

735
00:39:56,880 --> 00:39:59,319
Speaker 2: Ones people to do it, yeah, very few had done

736
00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:01,200
Speaker 2: it was that the first season.

737
00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:04,480
Speaker 1: Robbie, first season, what do you remember? The year amazing

738
00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:09,359
Speaker 1: And we're still the squad that up until this day,

739
00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:12,080
Speaker 1: what is it twenty five years of EPL whatever it is,

740
00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:15,400
Speaker 1: but we use the least amount of players that squad.

741
00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:18,120
Speaker 1: You know, there was very few injuries and back in

742
00:40:18,160 --> 00:40:20,560
Speaker 1: those days, and you know, I played twenty two games

743
00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:24,120
Speaker 1: out of the season and people go, oh, you didn't

744
00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:26,759
Speaker 1: play a game, and I said no, I said, I

745
00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:29,120
Speaker 1: was in a big team. I said, I played a

746
00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:32,279
Speaker 1: very important I got eight assists, hit the buf, hit

747
00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:36,440
Speaker 1: the post five times. Anyway, But there was only two

748
00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:39,239
Speaker 1: substitutes on the bench those days. Mate. It was a

749
00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:41,520
Speaker 1: battle again on the bench it's not like today when

750
00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:43,560
Speaker 1: you got six or seven on the bench. You know,

751
00:40:43,680 --> 00:40:46,719
Speaker 1: two were picked and you know it was hard.

752
00:40:46,960 --> 00:40:49,279
Speaker 3: In today's game, you know how the sale like the

753
00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:52,000
Speaker 3: rich clubs kind of just dominate the EPL. Was it

754
00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:55,160
Speaker 3: the same back then? It wasn't that.

755
00:40:55,160 --> 00:40:57,560
Speaker 1: There wasn't that an amount of money. Okay, Mady pointed

756
00:40:57,560 --> 00:40:59,879
Speaker 1: it out black Men we got actually the first team

757
00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:04,200
Speaker 1: to have a rich owner throwing money at it.

758
00:41:04,239 --> 00:41:06,640
Speaker 3: But everyone was on even playing field in that it.

759
00:41:06,480 --> 00:41:08,560
Speaker 1: Was always the same big clubs. You know, there was

760
00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:11,680
Speaker 1: no there was no Cities, Man City, there was no Chelsea,

761
00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:16,000
Speaker 1: definitely no Newcastle and what I'm saying those clubs existed

762
00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:19,560
Speaker 1: with a magnificent support, but they never had titles and

763
00:41:20,320 --> 00:41:24,239
Speaker 1: a history. Like the teams with the biggest history were

764
00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:31,120
Speaker 1: Liverpool United, Everton, Arsenal Spurs were big even though they

765
00:41:31,200 --> 00:41:33,759
Speaker 1: really won anything, but they were just big, you know.

766
00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:37,279
Speaker 1: But the top Nottingham Forest were a big team in

767
00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:40,279
Speaker 1: the eighties, you know, but Liverpool and Man United with

768
00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:40,960
Speaker 1: a big two.

769
00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:43,640
Speaker 3: How are you accepted in that team in that obviously

770
00:41:43,719 --> 00:41:44,239
Speaker 3: there's a lot of.

771
00:41:45,040 --> 00:41:48,360
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, no, very well. It was funny. Look, you

772
00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:52,520
Speaker 1: know the high you go it becomes impersonal sometimes yeah. Yeah.

773
00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:55,319
Speaker 1: And in England, not just Blackmirr and everywhere you went

774
00:41:55,719 --> 00:41:57,759
Speaker 1: it was a job. It was. It was funny that

775
00:41:57,960 --> 00:42:01,480
Speaker 1: the attitude like, that's your work, at your job, you know.

776
00:42:01,640 --> 00:42:04,400
Speaker 1: I always remember I was having a shocker at west

777
00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:07,520
Speaker 1: Ham one day he goes Harry Rednat comes in and

778
00:42:07,600 --> 00:42:10,080
Speaker 1: he and we'd had a play center off and he said,

779
00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:12,080
Speaker 1: you may you've got to cover blah blah blah. Anyway,

780
00:42:12,080 --> 00:42:14,520
Speaker 1: we lost five mines and he comes in, he says,

781
00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:16,840
Speaker 1: Robbie was just what was you doing out there? And

782
00:42:16,840 --> 00:42:18,600
Speaker 1: I said, well, Geffy, you told me I had to cover.

783
00:42:18,640 --> 00:42:20,680
Speaker 1: I was playing like two players and he said, and

784
00:42:20,719 --> 00:42:24,560
Speaker 1: you were both having a nightmare. And he said, he said,

785
00:42:24,560 --> 00:42:26,200
Speaker 1: when I tell you to do something, you've got to

786
00:42:26,200 --> 00:42:28,920
Speaker 1: do your job. You've got to do your job. And

787
00:42:28,960 --> 00:42:33,399
Speaker 1: that was a catch cry throughout. But at Blackburn there

788
00:42:33,480 --> 00:42:37,480
Speaker 1: was everyone got on. There's no doubt about it. But

789
00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:41,400
Speaker 1: there was a click. You know, Alan was a big superstar.

790
00:42:41,480 --> 00:42:43,840
Speaker 1: He was the superstar of the team and he didn't

791
00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:46,480
Speaker 1: act like that, but he was. He wasn't as close

792
00:42:46,600 --> 00:42:48,960
Speaker 1: to all the other players as and that that's not

793
00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:50,480
Speaker 1: a criticism, it's funny.

794
00:42:50,520 --> 00:42:52,920
Speaker 2: I hear him interview a list of podcast there. You're right,

795
00:42:52,920 --> 00:42:54,160
Speaker 2: he's pretty emotionally barren.

796
00:42:54,360 --> 00:42:59,239
Speaker 1: Yes, I don't think he particularly liked me. I don't

797
00:42:59,280 --> 00:43:01,480
Speaker 1: know whether because I turned up to Wetwood Park in

798
00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:02,160
Speaker 1: the Porsch.

799
00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:06,200
Speaker 2: Just did like Redheads Australia.

800
00:43:06,560 --> 00:43:08,520
Speaker 1: But look, I wouldn't say he didn't like me, but

801
00:43:08,800 --> 00:43:10,719
Speaker 1: he was. It was never really warm to me. He

802
00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:15,400
Speaker 1: was never nasty, and it's it's not a criticism because

803
00:43:15,480 --> 00:43:19,680
Speaker 1: he was. I'm so blessed that I played with him.

804
00:43:19,719 --> 00:43:24,880
Speaker 1: And you know, people sometimes confuse football teams as like

805
00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:27,400
Speaker 1: everyone must get on and everyone must go out for dinner.

806
00:43:27,480 --> 00:43:30,520
Speaker 1: It doesn't work like that. It goes. But the one

807
00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:35,440
Speaker 1: thing in football is that when you play together, if

808
00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:37,920
Speaker 1: you don't like someone, say you didn't like someone, No

809
00:43:38,040 --> 00:43:39,960
Speaker 1: way in the game would you say because I don't

810
00:43:39,960 --> 00:43:41,839
Speaker 1: like him on passing book, of course you're passing book

811
00:43:42,120 --> 00:43:44,560
Speaker 1: because you're and the team together and you win. That

812
00:43:44,600 --> 00:43:46,239
Speaker 1: doesn't mean I'm going to go to dinner with him,

813
00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:48,920
Speaker 1: but I'm not going to be You get that.

814
00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:51,160
Speaker 2: Definitely, you're doing your job.

815
00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:53,719
Speaker 1: You're doing your job and it's if that passes the

816
00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:55,640
Speaker 1: best for the team, that's what it's all about.

817
00:43:55,840 --> 00:44:00,000
Speaker 3: I find I find football, like particularly soccer and international

818
00:44:00,120 --> 00:44:02,080
Speaker 3: or soccer, they do it a lot better than say

819
00:44:02,520 --> 00:44:05,399
Speaker 3: in our game, Matthew, Rugby league, like I find if

820
00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:08,319
Speaker 3: you're if there's people in the team that people don't like.

821
00:44:08,360 --> 00:44:11,960
Speaker 3: In rugby league, even though it's professional sports it I

822
00:44:12,000 --> 00:44:15,319
Speaker 3: think they probably struggle more to jell as a team

823
00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:17,120
Speaker 3: than they do in sports like soccer.

824
00:44:17,239 --> 00:44:18,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know.

825
00:44:18,280 --> 00:44:19,560
Speaker 3: Do you find that as well done?

826
00:44:20,040 --> 00:44:20,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're probably right.

827
00:44:21,120 --> 00:44:24,200
Speaker 2: Like I think, particularly with modern day football, this would

828
00:44:24,200 --> 00:44:26,880
Speaker 2: be very strange. I'd love to see the dynamic after

829
00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:29,799
Speaker 2: a win like Ira Madrid came up this year. Does

830
00:44:29,880 --> 00:44:33,520
Speaker 2: Zimbabe does he go up to the goalkeeper and say,

831
00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:34,960
Speaker 2: come on, let's go and have a beer or a

832
00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:36,799
Speaker 2: wine or a meal or is it just each for

833
00:44:36,880 --> 00:44:37,560
Speaker 2: himself only?

834
00:44:37,600 --> 00:44:41,360
Speaker 1: I had this experience with young Maddie. We went to

835
00:44:42,880 --> 00:44:44,640
Speaker 1: last year, as I said, to see some epo. We

836
00:44:44,640 --> 00:44:47,080
Speaker 1: were lucky to see, well not lucky. Liverpool got smashed

837
00:44:47,080 --> 00:44:50,560
Speaker 1: for one by man City, but we saw. Maddy had

838
00:44:50,600 --> 00:44:54,399
Speaker 1: a training week with Manchester City boys the same age

839
00:44:54,400 --> 00:44:57,680
Speaker 1: and we got invited to man City Liverpool. We saw

840
00:44:57,719 --> 00:45:01,040
Speaker 1: two games at Old Trafford and we saw the Liverpool

841
00:45:01,120 --> 00:45:03,520
Speaker 1: Arsenal game at anfil So. It was a great experience.

842
00:45:03,560 --> 00:45:06,920
Speaker 1: But the biggest ie happened because we were all a

843
00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:09,279
Speaker 1: week at Man City and I got to talk to

844
00:45:09,360 --> 00:45:13,080
Speaker 1: a lot of people press officer and I remember speaking

845
00:45:13,160 --> 00:45:15,440
Speaker 1: to one guy who looked after the first team and

846
00:45:15,480 --> 00:45:17,960
Speaker 1: it was actually a driver of one of the cars.

847
00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:19,080
Speaker 1: And I said, what do you mean when the drive?

848
00:45:19,160 --> 00:45:22,040
Speaker 1: I said, on match day I drive their car out

849
00:45:22,080 --> 00:45:24,360
Speaker 1: of the car park and then they'll come out of

850
00:45:24,360 --> 00:45:26,000
Speaker 1: the dressing room and get in it. I go, wow

851
00:45:27,280 --> 00:45:30,680
Speaker 1: that and then we got into this whole conversation. I

852
00:45:30,680 --> 00:45:33,040
Speaker 1: had a few conversations with players I played with it

853
00:45:33,080 --> 00:45:35,600
Speaker 1: I caught up with it's a different level over there

854
00:45:35,600 --> 00:45:38,640
Speaker 1: now they don't go out, they don't have a social life,

855
00:45:39,080 --> 00:45:43,520
Speaker 1: their houses and mansions. And this is particularly these big clubs,

856
00:45:43,560 --> 00:45:47,160
Speaker 1: but it's pretty much all around the Premier League. The

857
00:45:47,360 --> 00:45:51,480
Speaker 1: security they have security where they don't go out. Where's

858
00:45:51,520 --> 00:45:54,600
Speaker 1: the I played We played in the best here. Yeah

859
00:45:57,360 --> 00:45:59,000
Speaker 1: there was mobile funds after their plan.

860
00:46:00,120 --> 00:46:02,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, mate, absolutely, just say some of the pubs used

861
00:46:03,000 --> 00:46:05,400
Speaker 2: to hang out with. If the walls grew lips, you

862
00:46:05,480 --> 00:46:08,120
Speaker 2: just knocked the joint down. It was. It was interesting, Robbie,

863
00:46:08,120 --> 00:46:12,279
Speaker 2: you're saying that about how basically you know, when you

864
00:46:12,320 --> 00:46:14,200
Speaker 2: get there and the big beer cats some more, they

865
00:46:14,239 --> 00:46:17,520
Speaker 2: become more individualistic. One of the most amazing things that

866
00:46:17,600 --> 00:46:21,000
Speaker 2: I saw was we went to the Super Bowl. We

867
00:46:21,000 --> 00:46:22,600
Speaker 2: went to the Super Bowl number of years ago. Its

868
00:46:22,680 --> 00:46:25,280
Speaker 2: Kansas City Chiefs beat the forty nine ers their first

869
00:46:25,400 --> 00:46:26,400
Speaker 2: first Super Bowl win.

870
00:46:26,440 --> 00:46:27,880
Speaker 1: I remember that Super Bowl fifty.

871
00:46:28,200 --> 00:46:30,600
Speaker 2: So we go back to our hotel after it in

872
00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:35,120
Speaker 2: Miami and down the bottom of arts at this massive

873
00:46:35,239 --> 00:46:38,000
Speaker 2: nightclub and we're standing miss Me and Gordy and we

874
00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:41,719
Speaker 2: were having a beer nextpern at this kafuffle. Look over

875
00:46:41,800 --> 00:46:45,279
Speaker 2: and Patrick Mahomes was walking in with an entourage and

876
00:46:45,400 --> 00:46:47,200
Speaker 2: there was a Kansas City Chiefs guy there and went

877
00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:49,080
Speaker 2: chatting away and said, oh, you know he was on

878
00:46:49,120 --> 00:46:51,480
Speaker 2: the staff. And we said, Patrick, where's the rest of

879
00:46:51,480 --> 00:46:53,840
Speaker 2: the side and he said, I don't know, And you

880
00:46:53,920 --> 00:46:56,840
Speaker 2: got I can imagine winning, Like, let me ask you.

881
00:46:56,840 --> 00:46:59,320
Speaker 2: You win the Premier League with Blackburn, Rabia.

882
00:46:59,200 --> 00:47:01,640
Speaker 1: Went out together out to get so we left anfield

883
00:47:01,920 --> 00:47:06,839
Speaker 1: where we won the Premier League and Kenny was our

884
00:47:06,840 --> 00:47:09,960
Speaker 1: manager to King of the cop and we got all

885
00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:13,080
Speaker 1: got on the bus and we're going to go back

886
00:47:13,080 --> 00:47:16,719
Speaker 1: to black Ben, but we got anyway. We weren't ever

887
00:47:16,760 --> 00:47:19,360
Speaker 1: going because Kenny had arraigned something. But black Ben was

888
00:47:19,440 --> 00:47:21,640
Speaker 1: We were told, don't come back here, it's just mayhem.

889
00:47:21,920 --> 00:47:25,480
Speaker 1: You'll never get in. It's just And so we went

890
00:47:25,520 --> 00:47:29,000
Speaker 1: to Preston, which is on the way, and Kenny had

891
00:47:29,040 --> 00:47:33,120
Speaker 1: organized this restaurant pub and and we just all went

892
00:47:33,160 --> 00:47:35,000
Speaker 1: there and all our families came. We stayed there all

893
00:47:35,080 --> 00:47:38,879
Speaker 1: night and it was the best night ever. What would

894
00:47:38,920 --> 00:47:42,600
Speaker 1: like she was the most warms the evidence. It was brilliant.

895
00:47:44,440 --> 00:47:46,160
Speaker 2: What would like Well?

896
00:47:46,520 --> 00:47:48,640
Speaker 3: In an example in a modern game, would a Ronaldo

897
00:47:48,880 --> 00:47:51,600
Speaker 3: or a Messy do the same? They wouldn't look.

898
00:47:51,680 --> 00:47:54,359
Speaker 1: I don't know them personally, but I would say it's

899
00:47:54,360 --> 00:47:58,799
Speaker 1: it's probably impossible. There was not long after the World

900
00:47:58,840 --> 00:48:02,759
Speaker 1: Cup there was which Messi was in Argentina and I

901
00:48:02,760 --> 00:48:04,560
Speaker 1: remember it came out in social media, but he was

902
00:48:04,560 --> 00:48:07,360
Speaker 1: at this some restaurant just with his and there was

903
00:48:07,480 --> 00:48:11,879
Speaker 1: thousands of people out front of the restaurants. So they're

904
00:48:11,920 --> 00:48:13,520
Speaker 1: in a different straight.

905
00:48:14,600 --> 00:48:17,480
Speaker 2: So you went, you went to west Ham yep, and

906
00:48:17,520 --> 00:48:21,759
Speaker 2: then you go on to Southamon. It's interesting iconic scotsman

907
00:48:21,800 --> 00:48:25,279
Speaker 2: who played for Liverpool. So thing for you the hit

908
00:48:25,440 --> 00:48:26,960
Speaker 2: man Graham Sooner.

909
00:48:27,560 --> 00:48:31,239
Speaker 1: That's why I went there. Signed there literally are he

910
00:48:31,320 --> 00:48:36,320
Speaker 1: read nap. We played Southampton at Upton Park the second

911
00:48:36,360 --> 00:48:40,240
Speaker 1: season my second season at west Ham played quite well.

912
00:48:40,440 --> 00:48:42,719
Speaker 1: We won two one. I think I set up the

913
00:48:42,760 --> 00:48:44,759
Speaker 1: winner and we came back in the dress and then

914
00:48:44,800 --> 00:48:47,800
Speaker 1: I went down to the the player's bar. Then everyone's

915
00:48:47,840 --> 00:48:50,279
Speaker 1: having a pint as you did in Notice Taste, and

916
00:48:50,840 --> 00:48:54,680
Speaker 1: Frank Lampard's senior who was the famous player, Frank Wolf.

917
00:48:54,800 --> 00:48:57,080
Speaker 1: He was a famous player in himself, but it was

918
00:48:57,160 --> 00:48:59,880
Speaker 1: his father. He was assistant to Harry. He tapped me

919
00:48:59,880 --> 00:49:01,759
Speaker 1: on said Harry wants to see you in the just

920
00:49:02,320 --> 00:49:05,680
Speaker 1: full Frank, I'm in the paint and Stanleys of readings

921
00:49:05,800 --> 00:49:08,120
Speaker 1: was with me and he said, oh you better. So anyway,

922
00:49:08,719 --> 00:49:11,040
Speaker 1: went back up. Then Harry's in the home dressing and

923
00:49:11,040 --> 00:49:14,719
Speaker 1: he goes Lobbie goes, well, I don't really want to

924
00:49:14,760 --> 00:49:18,040
Speaker 1: sell you, but I've got someone. Anyway, Sue's in the

925
00:49:18,640 --> 00:49:20,520
Speaker 1: way dress and he wants to talk to you. And

926
00:49:21,080 --> 00:49:23,719
Speaker 1: what do you think? I went, well, Harry, if you're

927
00:49:23,760 --> 00:49:25,960
Speaker 1: telling me this, then obviously you want me to go

928
00:49:26,040 --> 00:49:27,839
Speaker 1: and talk to him. And there are the things in

929
00:49:27,880 --> 00:49:30,239
Speaker 1: your career. If a manager doesn't want you to go,

930
00:49:30,320 --> 00:49:33,239
Speaker 1: you'll never know about it. This could be ten approaches

931
00:49:33,280 --> 00:49:35,719
Speaker 1: for a player that you'll never know. So anyway, I

932
00:49:35,719 --> 00:49:37,239
Speaker 1: went down and talked to Sue and sat there like

933
00:49:37,280 --> 00:49:38,080
Speaker 1: I did with can.

934
00:49:37,920 --> 00:49:42,400
Speaker 2: You see Graham? Sooner's coop for you is Scottish Scottish player,

935
00:49:42,600 --> 00:49:45,000
Speaker 2: one of the top great players ever and it was

936
00:49:45,400 --> 00:49:48,799
Speaker 2: an integral part of those incredible Liverpool sides. But he's

937
00:49:48,840 --> 00:49:51,719
Speaker 2: known to be my way of the highway. How'd you

938
00:49:51,719 --> 00:49:52,239
Speaker 2: get on with him?

939
00:49:53,080 --> 00:49:56,120
Speaker 1: Great? Because he signed me, you know, and and we

940
00:49:56,200 --> 00:49:58,200
Speaker 1: say he was actually still in the hotel at the time,

941
00:49:58,239 --> 00:50:00,680
Speaker 1: and we yeah, I just got on really well. I

942
00:50:00,760 --> 00:50:02,880
Speaker 1: had a couple of moments with him, as yours do.

943
00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:06,239
Speaker 1: But yeah, I just probably because he could feel my

944
00:50:06,360 --> 00:50:07,080
Speaker 1: love for him.

945
00:50:07,480 --> 00:50:08,160
Speaker 2: That's funny, Rock.

946
00:50:08,520 --> 00:50:10,719
Speaker 1: I was a Liverpool fan and he was a Liverpool legend.

947
00:50:10,840 --> 00:50:12,719
Speaker 2: And that's funny to say that, Robbie, because he was

948
00:50:12,920 --> 00:50:16,239
Speaker 2: probably one of the biggest champions of Craig Johnston's career

949
00:50:16,400 --> 00:50:19,640
Speaker 2: and John I went to Middlesbrough and John I was

950
00:50:19,680 --> 00:50:23,239
Speaker 2: basically being told by Big Jack piss off, you're done,

951
00:50:23,280 --> 00:50:26,080
Speaker 2: and Sooner said basically made if you know, if you

952
00:50:26,160 --> 00:50:28,399
Speaker 2: all Hiji out here, if you do this and the other,

953
00:50:28,880 --> 00:50:31,160
Speaker 2: and then when soon when John A was sort of

954
00:50:31,200 --> 00:50:34,759
Speaker 2: young player when he went to Liverpool, he told he

955
00:50:34,800 --> 00:50:37,200
Speaker 2: told Liverpool this made this a young blaker who's a

956
00:50:37,239 --> 00:50:41,719
Speaker 2: real goer, an Australian go at. Middlesbrough get him across. Wow.

957
00:50:42,120 --> 00:50:46,759
Speaker 2: And so yeah as a coach, liked coach.

958
00:50:47,200 --> 00:50:52,879
Speaker 1: He's very tactical, not defensive because he was a just fit.

959
00:50:53,440 --> 00:50:55,120
Speaker 1: He scored a lot of goals. He could do everything.

960
00:50:55,120 --> 00:50:59,600
Speaker 1: He was the ultimate midfielder. So yeah, he didn't get

961
00:50:59,600 --> 00:51:02,720
Speaker 1: on with some of the players. It was a relegation battle.

962
00:51:03,640 --> 00:51:06,440
Speaker 1: That's why he brought me anytime he said, look we're struggling.

963
00:51:06,640 --> 00:51:09,440
Speaker 1: I said, I need someone on that right side. And

964
00:51:10,280 --> 00:51:12,200
Speaker 1: I went and it was a great I won the

965
00:51:12,239 --> 00:51:16,480
Speaker 1: Premier with Blackburn when the last day of last day's

966
00:51:16,520 --> 00:51:19,880
Speaker 1: relegation battle we could have been relegated. That those famous

967
00:51:19,960 --> 00:51:23,720
Speaker 1: last days we actually lost a villa, but other results

968
00:51:23,719 --> 00:51:25,400
Speaker 1: went our way. It was as good as winning the

969
00:51:25,400 --> 00:51:30,000
Speaker 1: prim feeling staying up, you know, because I just didn't

970
00:51:30,000 --> 00:51:30,880
Speaker 1: want to get relegated.

971
00:51:30,920 --> 00:51:32,879
Speaker 2: Did you play with Matt Letitia also did good?

972
00:51:32,880 --> 00:51:34,960
Speaker 1: I spoke to him three days ago. Did you really

973
00:51:35,239 --> 00:51:37,520
Speaker 1: he's been on the nose in England at the moment

974
00:51:37,560 --> 00:51:40,279
Speaker 1: because he was one of these COVID Yeah, he was.

975
00:51:42,800 --> 00:51:46,400
Speaker 2: Letitia was the legendary, just an absolute.

976
00:51:46,600 --> 00:51:50,719
Speaker 1: It was one day we played a we played a

977
00:51:50,719 --> 00:51:55,640
Speaker 1: cup game. Where was it I remember it was against Anyway,

978
00:51:55,640 --> 00:51:58,279
Speaker 1: it doesn't really matter. It might have been child that

979
00:51:58,360 --> 00:52:01,320
Speaker 1: wasn't Chal it was a North but anyway, it doesn't

980
00:52:01,320 --> 00:52:04,720
Speaker 1: really matter because it was one of those tricky games

981
00:52:04,719 --> 00:52:07,440
Speaker 1: where you know, David Viglia and all this, you know

982
00:52:07,480 --> 00:52:09,800
Speaker 1: you could get and it was nil Neil five minutes ago.

983
00:52:10,280 --> 00:52:15,399
Speaker 1: Goalkeeper keeps kicks the ball. Letizia flicks it up from

984
00:52:15,480 --> 00:52:18,080
Speaker 1: a goal kick, like keeper kicking it up myles in

985
00:52:18,120 --> 00:52:22,080
Speaker 1: the air. He flicked over a defender's head and then

986
00:52:22,640 --> 00:52:24,800
Speaker 1: with the back of his heel before it hit the ground,

987
00:52:24,800 --> 00:52:28,240
Speaker 1: flicked it over another defender's head. It hit the ground

988
00:52:28,239 --> 00:52:30,439
Speaker 1: once and he volleyed into the top corner from about

989
00:52:30,440 --> 00:52:33,280
Speaker 1: twenty five minutes. Anyway, in the shower after the games,

990
00:52:35,360 --> 00:52:40,680
Speaker 1: what a goal. That's amazing. Probably won't make my top ten.

991
00:52:41,880 --> 00:52:47,080
Speaker 2: Because you got his goals and but just he was unbelievable,

992
00:52:47,080 --> 00:52:47,759
Speaker 2: like he looked like.

993
00:52:49,280 --> 00:52:52,680
Speaker 3: English run properly an englishman.

994
00:52:53,000 --> 00:52:55,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, he played for England, but he wasn't.

995
00:52:55,520 --> 00:52:58,000
Speaker 1: Terry Venables was the coach at the time and there

996
00:52:58,040 --> 00:53:00,520
Speaker 1: was always a great debate whether I think he should

997
00:53:00,520 --> 00:53:02,719
Speaker 1: have played more time for But anyway, he was a

998
00:53:02,840 --> 00:53:07,920
Speaker 1: one club man and another good story about that. But

999
00:53:08,000 --> 00:53:11,320
Speaker 1: he go to TAJ was TGI Fridays was his favorite.

1000
00:53:11,400 --> 00:53:16,000
Speaker 2: Rison They started a pre.

1001
00:53:15,960 --> 00:53:18,600
Speaker 1: Season right we'd be going, you'd have to go somewhere,

1002
00:53:18,680 --> 00:53:20,680
Speaker 1: we'd do a running session and then you drive back.

1003
00:53:20,840 --> 00:53:24,520
Speaker 1: Meet's all back at the gym. So he'd got to

1004
00:53:24,560 --> 00:53:26,839
Speaker 1: take away thick shape from McDonald's on the way back,

1005
00:53:27,320 --> 00:53:31,439
Speaker 1: and he couldn't do it like a what's the beet test?

1006
00:53:31,560 --> 00:53:34,160
Speaker 1: Yeah he's bloody awful, but may put a ball at

1007
00:53:34,200 --> 00:53:36,840
Speaker 1: his feet. He was. He was amazing. And I remember

1008
00:53:36,840 --> 00:53:40,120
Speaker 1: I signed for Southampton when Suwey took it nice set

1009
00:53:40,160 --> 00:53:45,719
Speaker 1: with Lory McMenemy, very famous English figure, and he he said,

1010
00:53:46,000 --> 00:53:47,840
Speaker 1: he said to me, we're a great club or a

1011
00:53:47,840 --> 00:53:50,720
Speaker 1: family club. He's pulled out this check for ten million pounds.

1012
00:53:51,120 --> 00:53:53,279
Speaker 1: Chelsea offered that for the Tears and he said, no,

1013
00:53:53,640 --> 00:53:56,400
Speaker 1: you'd rather stay here. And he said, like I said,

1014
00:53:56,400 --> 00:53:59,320
Speaker 1: great club. You know, we just have a little problem

1015
00:53:59,360 --> 00:54:02,799
Speaker 1: with three o'clock on Saturday afternoons when you played the game.

1016
00:54:04,080 --> 00:54:08,160
Speaker 2: Yeah wow, So Robie, you got it. You have a

1017
00:54:08,160 --> 00:54:11,040
Speaker 2: stin at Wolves and you come back with northern spirit.

1018
00:54:11,480 --> 00:54:14,279
Speaker 2: The decision to retire. We just taught him as sooner.

1019
00:54:14,320 --> 00:54:16,320
Speaker 2: So I was listening to him on a podcast the

1020
00:54:16,360 --> 00:54:18,560
Speaker 2: other day and they're talking about when you know it's time,

1021
00:54:18,920 --> 00:54:21,040
Speaker 2: and he was saying he was back playing for Rangers

1022
00:54:21,520 --> 00:54:23,960
Speaker 2: and he's standing over the ball. He said, no one

1023
00:54:24,000 --> 00:54:25,719
Speaker 2: knocked me off the ball, and this young guy just

1024
00:54:25,760 --> 00:54:27,960
Speaker 2: went pushed him off and he went, it's time.

1025
00:54:28,320 --> 00:54:32,120
Speaker 1: Was there a moment? So playing in the old NFL,

1026
00:54:32,680 --> 00:54:37,000
Speaker 1: we're playing down on a horrible evening in Woollongong against

1027
00:54:37,080 --> 00:54:39,080
Speaker 1: the Wolves, who were a good side at that stage.

1028
00:54:39,760 --> 00:54:42,240
Speaker 1: It was my third or forty, I can't really remember,

1029
00:54:42,239 --> 00:54:45,880
Speaker 1: but I remember I was struggling with Pattella tend I.

1030
00:54:46,040 --> 00:54:49,080
Speaker 1: It was about halfway through the season and I got

1031
00:54:49,080 --> 00:54:52,880
Speaker 1: an injection to play in this game. And before the

1032
00:54:52,880 --> 00:54:55,160
Speaker 1: game was funny. The coach was a guy called Mick Hickman,

1033
00:54:55,480 --> 00:55:00,480
Speaker 1: great fella, and he gave this speech because we in strumming,

1034
00:55:00,520 --> 00:55:02,080
Speaker 1: but he goes Robbie, I want you to take the

1035
00:55:02,120 --> 00:55:05,320
Speaker 1: team today, and he gave this speech, You've done everything

1036
00:55:05,920 --> 00:55:08,879
Speaker 1: only plays in this think and dream of what you've done.

1037
00:55:09,000 --> 00:55:13,040
Speaker 1: Maradonna one English, this unbelievable speech. And it just so

1038
00:55:13,160 --> 00:55:21,399
Speaker 1: happened that by halftime I'd retired and I remember his lady,

1039
00:55:21,440 --> 00:55:22,640
Speaker 1: you come up to me, He said, mate, was it

1040
00:55:22,760 --> 00:55:25,279
Speaker 1: my speech that ended your career? I said, no, it

1041
00:55:25,320 --> 00:55:28,160
Speaker 1: was my petella. Anyway, the game was playing first half.

1042
00:55:28,480 --> 00:55:30,920
Speaker 1: It was a few thousand people there. I think it

1043
00:55:31,080 --> 00:55:34,440
Speaker 1: was one nill with one nil down, and I just

1044
00:55:34,840 --> 00:55:37,080
Speaker 1: I looked around. I literally remember looking around and going

1045
00:55:37,239 --> 00:55:39,759
Speaker 1: and my knee was aching till ten Nights was something

1046
00:55:39,880 --> 00:55:44,080
Speaker 1: apes and I was chasing this young kid around and

1047
00:55:44,560 --> 00:55:46,799
Speaker 1: I couldn't get an ear in, mate, and I just thought,

1048
00:55:47,360 --> 00:55:50,200
Speaker 1: you know what, in my mind, it's over. So I

1049
00:55:50,200 --> 00:55:52,879
Speaker 1: went in at halftime that half time and I pulled

1050
00:55:52,960 --> 00:55:55,880
Speaker 1: Mickey over and I said, mate, I don't I'm not.

1051
00:55:56,160 --> 00:55:58,280
Speaker 1: I don't want to let you down, and I'm sorry,

1052
00:55:58,280 --> 00:56:02,080
Speaker 1: but I'm done. Wow, I said, my knee.

1053
00:56:02,120 --> 00:56:04,680
Speaker 3: I literally retired, said I tired.

1054
00:56:04,719 --> 00:56:08,839
Speaker 1: That night, I said, Mickey, I'm done. That's it, and

1055
00:56:08,880 --> 00:56:12,600
Speaker 1: he took it well. He said yeah. He said fine,

1056
00:56:12,960 --> 00:56:14,279
Speaker 1: how old are you? And we had to go back

1057
00:56:14,280 --> 00:56:18,800
Speaker 1: on the bus. I was I was thirty six.

1058
00:56:19,040 --> 00:56:22,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, depressed the Great Wally, who lived just around the corners,

1059
00:56:22,840 --> 00:56:24,879
Speaker 2: the great, he's a great guy. While he was telling

1060
00:56:24,880 --> 00:56:27,439
Speaker 2: me a story, the Great beyond Borg the first time

1061
00:56:27,520 --> 00:56:31,280
Speaker 2: Borg retired, just out of the blue, he said, flushy

1062
00:56:31,320 --> 00:56:35,080
Speaker 2: meadows and he said. Wally said, I'm sitting I'm sitting

1063
00:56:35,640 --> 00:56:38,240
Speaker 2: in the dressing room. And Borg had just been beaten

1064
00:56:38,280 --> 00:56:41,120
Speaker 2: and he was disappointing himself. He walked off through his bag,

1065
00:56:41,480 --> 00:56:44,759
Speaker 2: threw his racquet and just kept and never came back.

1066
00:56:45,040 --> 00:56:47,960
Speaker 3: Did you have a moment began?

1067
00:56:49,080 --> 00:56:52,160
Speaker 2: My moment was almost it happened with my moment, I went.

1068
00:56:52,400 --> 00:56:55,920
Speaker 2: It was in a game and leading up I was

1069
00:56:56,160 --> 00:56:58,319
Speaker 2: always had good here as I was playing Cranella last

1070
00:56:58,400 --> 00:57:00,719
Speaker 2: year and I kept dropping the ball of it become

1071
00:57:00,800 --> 00:57:05,160
Speaker 2: this running joke. Right anyway, Chris Andersy come up and

1072
00:57:05,160 --> 00:57:08,680
Speaker 2: said John, Chris Variety said, mate, you've always had really

1073
00:57:08,719 --> 00:57:12,000
Speaker 2: good hands. Is everything all right? And I said, I don't.

1074
00:57:12,120 --> 00:57:15,600
Speaker 2: I don't know now. Little did I know that all

1075
00:57:15,680 --> 00:57:18,480
Speaker 2: the nerves of my neck and shoulder were dying, and

1076
00:57:18,520 --> 00:57:22,120
Speaker 2: so that had affected my right hand. Could it was

1077
00:57:22,160 --> 00:57:25,000
Speaker 2: just slightly, you know, it couldn't, and it was slow,

1078
00:57:25,880 --> 00:57:27,080
Speaker 2: and I didn't know. And I went out and played

1079
00:57:27,120 --> 00:57:29,040
Speaker 2: a game against the Rooster as Nidor and Morley ran

1080
00:57:29,160 --> 00:57:31,160
Speaker 2: up and I went to hit him and a bomb

1081
00:57:31,160 --> 00:57:32,840
Speaker 2: went off of my body. I didn't know whether I

1082
00:57:32,880 --> 00:57:34,760
Speaker 2: broke him my neck. I didn't know break. It was

1083
00:57:34,800 --> 00:57:36,840
Speaker 2: aching the whole body, and it had just been it

1084
00:57:36,840 --> 00:57:38,400
Speaker 2: was nerve deterioration.

1085
00:57:38,400 --> 00:57:39,560
Speaker 1: And you hit the deck.

1086
00:57:39,760 --> 00:57:41,520
Speaker 2: I hit the deck and they just laid there. They

1087
00:57:41,520 --> 00:57:44,760
Speaker 2: had had the whole precaution, the neck brace and everything,

1088
00:57:44,840 --> 00:57:47,400
Speaker 2: and I'm off, wait, wait for this, you love this.

1089
00:57:47,880 --> 00:57:50,720
Speaker 2: So I'm in the dressing room right and I'm laying there,

1090
00:57:51,120 --> 00:57:53,360
Speaker 2: and Andrew was there. Andrew had been drunk and he

1091
00:57:53,480 --> 00:57:56,080
Speaker 2: was out. He was outw Castle. But he's in the shed.

1092
00:57:56,280 --> 00:57:58,640
Speaker 2: And I got Jason Stephens. Of course Steve has the

1093
00:57:58,720 --> 00:58:02,400
Speaker 2: god bother. So anyway, the physios stand at the top

1094
00:58:02,440 --> 00:58:06,120
Speaker 2: of me and he goes he said, Maddie. He said, Maddie,

1095
00:58:06,160 --> 00:58:09,280
Speaker 2: do you have you been getting any tingling in your fingers?

1096
00:58:09,280 --> 00:58:13,800
Speaker 2: And Joey said I have. And then Steve they walked up,

1097
00:58:13,880 --> 00:58:16,280
Speaker 2: put his hand on me and started praying, and I

1098
00:58:16,360 --> 00:58:18,520
Speaker 2: was like, get away from me.

1099
00:58:21,200 --> 00:58:24,320
Speaker 1: Oh wow, must have been pretty scary in all, yes.

1100
00:58:24,960 --> 00:58:27,360
Speaker 2: It was, and I see, Robbie, the worst thing I

1101
00:58:27,360 --> 00:58:30,040
Speaker 2: ever ever had to go through. They sent me to

1102
00:58:29,640 --> 00:58:34,200
Speaker 2: a nerve specialist and next specialist and he had this

1103
00:58:34,640 --> 00:58:38,240
Speaker 2: like electrode. It was like a needle and they dig

1104
00:58:38,240 --> 00:58:41,240
Speaker 2: it into your neck and shoulders and they pressed the

1105
00:58:41,280 --> 00:58:44,960
Speaker 2: electricity and if you feel it, then the nerves. If

1106
00:58:45,000 --> 00:58:47,080
Speaker 2: you don't feel it, the nerves have died in that area.

1107
00:58:47,160 --> 00:58:50,120
Speaker 2: But when they do feel it anyway, he just said

1108
00:58:50,280 --> 00:58:52,560
Speaker 2: you'll net. You can never play again. But he said,

1109
00:58:52,560 --> 00:58:55,480
Speaker 2: your shoulder just dropped completely of socket. And and of course,

1110
00:58:55,720 --> 00:58:58,800
Speaker 2: what do you know, Doc went out and played six

1111
00:58:58,840 --> 00:59:02,600
Speaker 2: weeks later when I make can tackle completely broke drop

1112
00:59:02,600 --> 00:59:04,520
Speaker 2: straight over the socket. And you know what, Robbie you're

1113
00:59:04,520 --> 00:59:05,960
Speaker 2: going to say. I was relieved.

1114
00:59:06,560 --> 00:59:09,560
Speaker 1: Ye do you know what? That's That's a great thing

1115
00:59:09,600 --> 00:59:12,680
Speaker 1: you say, because that night, although it was a low

1116
00:59:12,800 --> 00:59:15,400
Speaker 1: trip home, I think at the not for the game.

1117
00:59:15,440 --> 00:59:17,840
Speaker 1: I think it was one all. But I felt relieved.

1118
00:59:18,840 --> 00:59:21,919
Speaker 2: I felt like, Okay, thank you all the stresses over

1119
00:59:22,080 --> 00:59:23,480
Speaker 2: the roller coasters.

1120
00:59:24,080 --> 00:59:28,200
Speaker 1: But then you don't realize what comes after. I think

1121
00:59:28,240 --> 00:59:30,240
Speaker 1: everyone who wins their career and you've been at the

1122
00:59:30,320 --> 00:59:35,400
Speaker 1: high level goes through some quarters. I don't know depression

1123
00:59:35,480 --> 00:59:37,680
Speaker 1: is the right word, but some you go through it

1124
00:59:37,720 --> 00:59:40,520
Speaker 1: and with only the withdrawal. Yeah, but it's only years

1125
00:59:40,600 --> 00:59:43,480
Speaker 1: later you look back and go, yeah, I wasn't right

1126
00:59:43,600 --> 00:59:47,640
Speaker 1: because one minute. So when you're end a sporting career,

1127
00:59:48,040 --> 00:59:50,760
Speaker 1: the tap doesn't drip, you know, it's just turned off. Bang,

1128
00:59:51,200 --> 00:59:53,360
Speaker 1: you go from playing in front of thousands of people

1129
00:59:54,320 --> 00:59:56,680
Speaker 1: to done. You don't you're not down to dressing rooms

1130
00:59:56,800 --> 00:59:59,200
Speaker 1: where you're training, and you've got all that adrenaline and

1131
00:59:59,280 --> 01:00:02,880
Speaker 1: only calls it Gray Mantle and soccers coach calls it

1132
01:00:02,960 --> 01:00:06,640
Speaker 1: the adrenaline fix. Uh. You know, when you run out,

1133
01:00:07,080 --> 01:00:09,120
Speaker 1: you get it, you get pumped up, the crowds raw.

1134
01:00:09,440 --> 01:00:13,360
Speaker 1: When you retire, it's over. It's pretty hard to do it.

1135
01:00:13,440 --> 01:00:15,280
Speaker 1: And now you know, if you're not lucky enough to

1136
01:00:15,360 --> 01:00:18,960
Speaker 1: stay involved in the game either as maybe coach. I

1137
01:00:18,960 --> 01:00:22,480
Speaker 1: think media gives you that adrenaline bit as well, but

1138
01:00:22,560 --> 01:00:25,479
Speaker 1: for some players it's really really hard.

1139
01:00:25,560 --> 01:00:27,840
Speaker 2: That's right. You don't get under standing ovation by getting

1140
01:00:27,880 --> 01:00:31,800
Speaker 2: the coco pops off the shelf. So the coat you

1141
01:00:31,840 --> 01:00:32,920
Speaker 2: and asked a few questions.

1142
01:00:33,600 --> 01:00:36,120
Speaker 3: We've always finished with a few rapid fire questions. Love

1143
01:00:36,120 --> 01:00:39,640
Speaker 3: it letting people get to know you, Okay, Jesus, other

1144
01:00:39,720 --> 01:00:42,800
Speaker 3: than Maradonna, who's the best player you've ever played against?

1145
01:00:44,320 --> 01:00:46,400
Speaker 1: It's got to be rapid fire. I played some good

1146
01:00:46,400 --> 01:00:47,080
Speaker 1: ones Cantona.

1147
01:00:47,640 --> 01:00:51,400
Speaker 2: Ah, did you meet him personally?

1148
01:00:51,480 --> 01:00:54,080
Speaker 1: I went out with him many times. I meet him

1149
01:00:54,160 --> 01:00:56,880
Speaker 1: because he when I was playing in France. He was

1150
01:00:56,880 --> 01:00:59,240
Speaker 1: in France, the famous one when he left France he

1151
01:00:59,320 --> 01:01:03,480
Speaker 1: threw the ball that was in the game jud through

1152
01:01:03,520 --> 01:01:05,800
Speaker 1: the finger, called them idiots. That's when. That's when I

1153
01:01:05,920 --> 01:01:08,840
Speaker 1: was there, and I played against him quite a few

1154
01:01:08,880 --> 01:01:11,600
Speaker 1: times before he left and went. And then remember I

1155
01:01:11,640 --> 01:01:13,520
Speaker 1: said earlier, sorry about the rapid fight.

1156
01:01:14,000 --> 01:01:14,439
Speaker 3: It's fine.

1157
01:01:14,560 --> 01:01:18,120
Speaker 1: When we I went back to Lowns for testimonials, Yep.

1158
01:01:18,280 --> 01:01:20,640
Speaker 1: He played in quite a few thoys and we'd go

1159
01:01:20,720 --> 01:01:24,400
Speaker 1: out to Lil had a few nights. Weird.

1160
01:01:24,680 --> 01:01:26,840
Speaker 3: Was he loose on the piss though, No, not at all.

1161
01:01:26,960 --> 01:01:29,680
Speaker 1: He was Eric the King, Yeah, but he was. I

1162
01:01:29,720 --> 01:01:35,440
Speaker 1: loved his bungers. He was strange guy, but but great,

1163
01:01:35,840 --> 01:01:36,320
Speaker 1: good fun.

1164
01:01:36,640 --> 01:01:37,640
Speaker 2: Just the way he used to walk.

1165
01:01:38,280 --> 01:01:40,800
Speaker 1: Peacock one have the collar, remember.

1166
01:01:40,600 --> 01:01:43,560
Speaker 2: The one of the best things to watch you get

1167
01:01:43,600 --> 01:01:47,480
Speaker 2: on YouTube and after his create a kick at Crystal Palace,

1168
01:01:47,520 --> 01:01:50,280
Speaker 2: he's been out all that stint and his first game

1169
01:01:50,360 --> 01:01:53,479
Speaker 2: back for Men United as they're playing Liverpool at Old

1170
01:01:53,520 --> 01:01:57,280
Speaker 2: Trafford and as they're coming out of the tunnel they

1171
01:01:57,400 --> 01:02:00,400
Speaker 2: play the United Ground now so plays the rocky tuned

1172
01:02:00,440 --> 01:02:04,320
Speaker 2: down of course, his last one out of the time.

1173
01:02:05,800 --> 01:02:06,960
Speaker 3: Who is your hero going up?

1174
01:02:08,520 --> 01:02:09,000
Speaker 1: Mary Don?

1175
01:02:09,960 --> 01:02:10,240
Speaker 3: Really?

1176
01:02:11,440 --> 01:02:11,919
Speaker 1: Yeah? Wow?

1177
01:02:12,120 --> 01:02:14,160
Speaker 2: Some people say you didn't want to meet you meet

1178
01:02:14,200 --> 01:02:16,400
Speaker 2: your heroes, but your experience was pretty good.

1179
01:02:16,560 --> 01:02:18,240
Speaker 1: Yeah. He was my hero, my football hero.

1180
01:02:18,600 --> 01:02:20,280
Speaker 3: Have you got the jersey at home or something?

1181
01:02:20,320 --> 01:02:21,480
Speaker 1: If you did have, it's gone.

1182
01:02:22,040 --> 01:02:24,440
Speaker 3: What you lost in the move? Yeah, one of the

1183
01:02:24,480 --> 01:02:25,440
Speaker 3: ex wives.

1184
01:02:26,880 --> 01:02:29,000
Speaker 1: It's a good way of putting it. They got everything else.

1185
01:02:29,520 --> 01:02:31,800
Speaker 2: I take the car, the house. Oh please, not the jersey.

1186
01:02:31,960 --> 01:02:32,680
Speaker 2: Not the jersey.

1187
01:02:32,960 --> 01:02:35,160
Speaker 1: It's all right, mate. They have coffee together and discussing.

1188
01:02:37,520 --> 01:02:40,320
Speaker 1: That's actually true. That's actually true.

1189
01:02:41,480 --> 01:02:43,760
Speaker 3: What about your favorite teammate you ever played with?

1190
01:02:44,200 --> 01:02:52,920
Speaker 1: Favorite teammate supposed to be rapid fire. It's so many look,

1191
01:02:52,920 --> 01:02:57,400
Speaker 1: I have to say Annie, big mates. Yeah, I played

1192
01:02:57,440 --> 01:02:59,080
Speaker 1: at Sydney United Soccer rus.

1193
01:03:00,280 --> 01:03:03,120
Speaker 3: What about you? Of all the managers, you had favorite.

1194
01:03:02,720 --> 01:03:09,640
Speaker 1: One Grahamsoness, Yeah, okay, why I just as a player Kenny,

1195
01:03:09,840 --> 01:03:13,280
Speaker 1: him and Kenny because I grew up with them posters

1196
01:03:13,320 --> 01:03:16,280
Speaker 1: on my on my on my wall. So when I

1197
01:03:16,320 --> 01:03:18,360
Speaker 1: answered Mary Donna, it was my hero. My next one

1198
01:03:18,440 --> 01:03:19,800
Speaker 1: would have been Kenny Soon.

1199
01:03:20,760 --> 01:03:21,560
Speaker 3: Okay.

1200
01:03:21,680 --> 01:03:24,400
Speaker 2: It's funny. With Soon, you probably recognized the fire and

1201
01:03:24,440 --> 01:03:26,560
Speaker 2: the competitiveness, and you on yourself.

1202
01:03:27,240 --> 01:03:29,200
Speaker 3: What about if you could have only played for one

1203
01:03:29,240 --> 01:03:30,840
Speaker 3: of the clubs that you've played at, who would have

1204
01:03:30,840 --> 01:03:31,960
Speaker 3: been for loans?

1205
01:03:32,760 --> 01:03:36,200
Speaker 1: Life changer? Learned another l No one thought, they laughed.

1206
01:03:37,080 --> 01:03:42,160
Speaker 1: He'll never speak French? Of course I married a French

1207
01:03:42,200 --> 01:03:44,920
Speaker 1: woman and ended up speaking France and it was just

1208
01:03:44,960 --> 01:03:45,920
Speaker 1: the best experience.

1209
01:03:45,920 --> 01:03:46,760
Speaker 3: Can you speak French?

1210
01:03:48,240 --> 01:03:54,640
Speaker 1: Give us, give us a blue La Francis under the

1211
01:03:55,160 --> 01:04:01,040
Speaker 1: favorrepul urals are we?

1212
01:04:01,160 --> 01:04:02,600
Speaker 3: Hopefully there's some French people listening.

1213
01:04:05,840 --> 01:04:06,760
Speaker 1: He didn't say anything.

1214
01:04:08,440 --> 01:04:10,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right his accent.

1215
01:04:10,960 --> 01:04:14,280
Speaker 3: What about last one? Your favorite moment of your career,

1216
01:04:14,680 --> 01:04:15,200
Speaker 3: Mare Donna?

1217
01:04:15,920 --> 01:04:18,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, hard to split the two, but you went rapid

1218
01:04:18,800 --> 01:04:21,960
Speaker 1: Fire and Mardonna because Maradonna led to the appel.

1219
01:04:22,880 --> 01:04:24,080
Speaker 3: Yeah okay.

1220
01:04:24,160 --> 01:04:27,040
Speaker 1: And playing for Australia, Yeah, every time I played for

1221
01:04:27,080 --> 01:04:30,240
Speaker 1: STU was a special moment, but Mara Donna changed my life.

1222
01:04:30,200 --> 01:04:33,840
Speaker 3: Right one one more just because the Olympics is coming up.

1223
01:04:33,880 --> 01:04:35,560
Speaker 3: Who who do you think is going to win?

1224
01:04:36,200 --> 01:04:38,840
Speaker 1: Where the Matilda's are? I hope the Matilda's win it,

1225
01:04:39,680 --> 01:04:43,640
Speaker 1: obviously can they without Sam Kerr? I think it'll be difficult.

1226
01:04:44,280 --> 01:04:48,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, Well it's funny, isn't it, isn't it? I interviewed

1227
01:04:49,000 --> 01:04:51,560
Speaker 2: Eddie Jones last year. Yeah, and I said how big

1228
01:04:51,600 --> 01:04:54,439
Speaker 2: an impact when he coached the English rugby union team,

1229
01:04:54,680 --> 01:04:58,320
Speaker 2: how big impact does the tabloids have on your players?

1230
01:04:58,400 --> 01:05:01,720
Speaker 2: And he said monumental? He said huge, and so had

1231
01:05:01,760 --> 01:05:03,880
Speaker 2: gone into the really big games. He said there was

1232
01:05:04,000 --> 01:05:06,040
Speaker 2: a huge impact on the players.

1233
01:05:05,760 --> 01:05:09,000
Speaker 1: One hundred percent and even my time. And it was

1234
01:05:09,040 --> 01:05:12,280
Speaker 1: the same in France that how big the game was

1235
01:05:12,400 --> 01:05:15,320
Speaker 1: is you know you'd always get one of the things.

1236
01:05:15,360 --> 01:05:18,960
Speaker 1: Obviously there's headlines and but there was always pressure. France

1237
01:05:19,120 --> 01:05:24,720
Speaker 1: was this was France football does the belonged or which

1238
01:05:24,760 --> 01:05:26,960
Speaker 1: is the European player of the year. But they give

1239
01:05:28,040 --> 01:05:30,520
Speaker 1: for your games one to ten. Kid gives one to ten.

1240
01:05:31,560 --> 01:05:34,320
Speaker 1: France football was not six and if you played a game,

1241
01:05:35,280 --> 01:05:37,600
Speaker 1: you couldn't wait to see what your rating was. Yeah,

1242
01:05:37,640 --> 01:05:40,360
Speaker 1: it was like embarrassing or you could have a good week.

1243
01:05:40,440 --> 01:05:42,920
Speaker 1: And England was the same. You know, players were always

1244
01:05:42,960 --> 01:05:46,840
Speaker 1: obsessed with yeah, how much did I get? Did I

1245
01:05:46,880 --> 01:05:50,080
Speaker 1: get seven out of ten or six or five? Ue?

1246
01:05:50,320 --> 01:05:51,600
Speaker 2: Nice to do that, right y.

1247
01:05:51,640 --> 01:05:52,960
Speaker 1: League Week is the Raby League Week.

1248
01:05:53,000 --> 01:05:56,080
Speaker 2: And there was a well known there was a player

1249
01:05:56,720 --> 01:06:00,080
Speaker 2: in the seventies who played for Manly who wrote for

1250
01:06:00,160 --> 01:06:03,560
Speaker 2: Rugby League Week, but it was under a pseudonym, and

1251
01:06:03,720 --> 01:06:06,120
Speaker 2: all the players that he was competing against for the spot,

1252
01:06:06,400 --> 01:06:08,920
Speaker 2: he'd always give himself an aid and they'd be getting

1253
01:06:08,960 --> 01:06:11,600
Speaker 2: a five and six and one of the players going,

1254
01:06:12,120 --> 01:06:15,680
Speaker 2: who the fuck a little name? It was his teammate.

1255
01:06:16,200 --> 01:06:20,440
Speaker 2: Next in the next locker, Robbie. Awesome mate, it's always

1256
01:06:20,840 --> 01:06:22,280
Speaker 2: to catch up. Thanks for your time.

1257
01:06:22,560 --> 01:06:24,680
Speaker 1: Good thank you, Robbie. Pleasure, thank you.