Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Footballer and England captain, best known as top scorer in the 1986 World Cup and for never being booked.
On the island
Eight records
I actually saw them in concert a year or so ago, one of the rare concerts I've seen. Um I've since met Mick Hucknell, who came out to Sardinia just before the World Cup. We met him there, and actually caddied for me as we played golf, would you believe?
Soul LimboFavourite
it's the theme tune to the music that's played on BBC every time the cricket's on.
I'm a big Rod Stewart fan. I actually saw him in concert in Barcelona once.
another big favourite, another one I really like to sing along to.
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
to remind me and keep me happy, keep me smiling... a bit my philosophy as well.
on a desert island I would think With or Without You is quite appropriate from you two.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:13What do you put your never being booked down to? Is it niceness or skill?
Well, I think I haven't got a temper which helps... I'm a very placid person, pretty easygoing. ... I've never been one to retaliate. It's just something that's it's not in me, it's the way I'm made. ... I don't argue with referees because I think it's a waste of time.
Presenter asks
2:25When you sit on this desert island, what will you think about? Will you think of escape or just sit there placidly and enjoy it?
I should definitely enjoy the sun. Hopefully it's a sunny place, this desert island. And um I do enjoy relaxing and swimming and things like that. So I would pass my time Doing plenty of those sort of things.
Presenter asks
5:29Was football always destined to be your career, or did you have a choice in those early years?
Well, I was as a kid I was a football fanatic. Um, I used to practice in the garden with my brother. in the winter and in the summer it was always cricket. We used to play all the time, um ev every minute that we possibly could and of course in winter nights tend to be longer than they are in the summer, so Which meant coming home from school and not really being able to play. So what we did we sort of got a load of lamps, all the lamps that were in the house and put them in the upstairs window. and and shone them on the garden, so that that kept us going right through the winter.
The keepsakes
The luxury
I'm going to stage my own test matches. … I figured I could just about make a cricket bat, especially if there's a willow tree on my desert island, and then have the bowling machine to bowl to me all day.
Presenter asks
6:44At what point did it become apparent that you were a very special talent?
I always scored a lot of goals right from a very early age. And people around me believed it. And I always played in the representative side for for Leicester boys, right through. But I never got anywhere near England schools or anything like that. I wasn't an exceptional talent at that age. Um, I was a late developer. I just slowly develop really, even af and the most important time is after you leave school and you join you do your apprenticeship and and you carry on. And that's when I just gradually improved for every level that I played at. Um things went okay for me, each time to my great surprise.
Presenter asks
18:49How big a decision was it to move to Spain?
Well, it was very big because at the time it had A fabulous time at Everton, and it was difficult to leave, although the chance to play at What is one of the biggest clubs in the world? And also a nice place to live. And of course Financially it's also rewarding. At the end of the day was very, very difficult to turn down. ... We kept saying, Well, should we, shouldn't we, should we, shouldn't we? one of us wouldn't actually say, Well, we should In the end we wrote down on separate pieces of paper, Yes or No, and we We both put yes, uh that's fairly joint.
Presenter asks
25:45You looked utterly cool when taking your penalty shot. Did you really feel that? What does a player feel at that moment?
Well, you don't feel that cool. I suppose it's like the duck bit where you're calm on the surface but flapping like hell underneath. But, um I think you've got to try and look cool, otherwise the goalkeeper will fancy his chances. But, um I remember the one against Cameroon in particular, where we were two one down with not too long to go. And I'd actually been taking penalties for for five years for England without actually having one. And then to suddenly get one at that particular moment. It wasn't really that pleasant, although I remember when the referee initially blew for it, I thought, Oh great, we're back in the game and then I thought, Oh no, it's me that's taking it. ... Well, a few negative thoughts went through my head. I must admit, I was thinking, Well, if I miss this, I'll they'll never allow me back in the country. I even thought of my brother that gets incredibly uptight when I'm playing anyway, let alone in a situation like that. In fact, in the end he told me that he was cowering in the corner of the room, squinting through sort of clenched fists. But fortunately it it went in, as did the following one, and also the one in the shootout.
“I'm a very placid person, pretty easygoing.”
“I've never been one to retaliate. It's just something that's it's not in me, it's the way I'm made.”
“I always scored a lot of goals right from a very early age. And people around me believed it.”
“I don't think he'd have believed it. Um just to See him play was great. Um the chance to have ever met him or got his autograph would have been fabulous, but um to imagine that one day I'd be playing the same England side as him would have been too much to believe, I think.”
“Basically I'm pretty boring. I think ... I very, very much enjoy the way I live. Um I enjoy going out for a meal um with my wife. Um if that's boring or saintly, well I'm sorry, but that's what I enjoy doing.”