Il Capitano

WEBVTT
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Music.
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Right, so welcome back to another episode of the Upfront and Unfiltered podcast,
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where we basically skip all the bullshit of Manx football and get into the real stuff.
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I'm Dean Turton, and this episode
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I'm joined by someone who's pretty much won it all in Manx football.
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Grand slams, individual trophies, international trophies, you name it, he's done it.
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And that's obviously no other person than Frank Jones.
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Frank's obviously best known as a former FC Allemans captain,
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the Allemans national team's captain, and he's going to share with us his journey
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through the local game. We'll also have a chat about what he thinks is good
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and bad in the local game right now.
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And we'll round things off with Select 7, where Frank will pick his ultimate
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7-a-side team. Frank, how are you, mate?
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Yeah, great. Thanks for having us on. It's all good. So, we'll jump straight into it.
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Where and when does Frank Jones' football journey begin?
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Do you know what? People look at me now and I'm like, I am football mad and
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football crazy and all this.
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But my football started, like, real late. like
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my dad was into motocross so from
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like maybe four hours racing bikes
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and that kind of took priority because obviously you know with kids football
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it's on a sunday yeah and i'd go racing bikes and i didn't really play and then
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you get to kind of primary school and you play a bit of like school football
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probably later on like year five and six like with anika we won the millennium
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But I still wasn't, I played,
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but I wasn't obviously mad on it. I was like mad for bikes.
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And then I kind of, yeah, I joined Pully, played for Pully like under 12s with
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the likes of like Liam Cowan, Dezo, Kinga, like Liam McCabe, people like that.
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But it wasn't really my kind of go-to.
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And then it was when probably maybe, I don't know, I'd say 15.
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And obviously my dad had, like, I always laugh at this with him now because
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obviously with me being a dad, I realised how much money he put into my bikes.
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And everything like this and I think if you could go back now you'd say well
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look I'll just buy you £200 for a pair of football boots because you were spending,
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tens of thousands on me racing bikes across England from like six to like.
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Six to like sixteen and then it was like it was quite an awkward conversation
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then because I was like I'm fifteen and I want to play football on a Sunday,
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But my dad's like, you're riding bikes and like, I was doing quite well and
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like winning on the island.
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So it was like that. And then that's when kind of, I got to 16.
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I tell you where I'd done my ACL at 16. For the first time. For the first time.
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Yeah. I've done both of them now. I'll be good when I'm a bit older.
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But anyway, yeah, it was kind of then I got into St. Mary's like 15 to 17s it was at the time then.
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And it was getting a bit more serious then. And I was like, my dad played.
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He was terrible but he he played and
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he was like just in a combi and i used to go and watch that a little bit but
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i was more for bikes and then it kind of and i think
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that's what probably prolonged my career now so long because i
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didn't start so early yeah i watch my like boys now like my boys like four and
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six and they are football crazy three times a week and it's like and you look
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at like like ego he plays broncan and you go there and there's like hundreds
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of kids and it's like it is fantastic but you think,
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is it too soon maybe you know like so when you get to are you going to be bored
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when you get to 16 and want to do something else yeah maybe and I think we'll
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talk about that as you go further on about trying to like kind of sustain Manx
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football but that was me really and then at 16 I'd done my ACL,
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I literally I got back from that I played in a it was a I played in the Cal
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Cup was kind of final was my first game back and I was dying to win it because
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it's one of them trophies you only get one shot that yeah you really do
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and it's like a great trophy to win and i i won it
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with st mary's at that time and then it was like a conversation with my
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dad about like look i don't like i don't
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want to do bikes i want to do bikes but i don't want to be 100 on bikes i want
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to go and play football more and i didn't really like at that point i wasn't
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in the isle of man team i didn't really play island under 18s i was in the school
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of excellence i was arguably not the kind of the.
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Best player but arguably in any kind of team I haven't been it's kind of fitness
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and work rate that gets me there.
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But that's how it all kind of started with me. Yeah. So that Centre of Excellence
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team, who would have been in that when you were in there?
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So I was like real best mates with Marky Priestnell. So like we kind of,
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if you speak to Dicko, because he kind of like we're the Anika Pully lads and
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always messing around, but we were quite raw and we were quite kind of good
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at that kind of thing. And we used to go down, me and Marky had always got together.
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He was unbelievable. I'm like, he's not really playing now or he hasn't played.
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Even when he did play, you know, he come back a couple of years ago,
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didn't he? He played about five or six games for Pully.
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And he was just banging goals. There was a good room when me and Al got some
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areas kind of going again.
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We were reaching out to him and just saying, we're in the setting division,
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we're trying to get players, just kind of come and play with us.
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And he didn't in the end. And we were speaking to SteeDoh, trying to get Marky down.
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But he was something else. He was unbelievable. He was at Man City,
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wasn't he, at like 12 or 13? I think he went on a couple of trials.
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But we used to mess around something terrible and we'd always get split up.
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And then we wouldn't be allowed in the same group.
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But there was like, I'm trying to think of all the players, like Steve Shimon
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and like Rob Jones, Craig Cowan.
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That was the kind of thing. Andy Cleeter from Ramsey, he was like,
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we're good. That was my kind of school of excellence kind of era growing up.
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So then obviously you come out of that and you could start going into senior football.
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So do you just carry on with St. Mary's into your senior football to start off
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with? Yeah, so like around that kind of time of 15, I think I've got the worst
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memory, but I think I had a year at Onkin.
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I played with Clinton at Onkin, to be fair. I think it was like under-16s, under-17s there.
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I had obviously... John Burke managing them then? Yeah, it was.
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Yeah, yeah, it was. He was there.
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He was the manager. And Clinton's dad used to help out as well.
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Because Clinton's dad used to play for Onken as well. I remember that from back
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when I was playing for them. Yeah.
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So that was kind of like around that kind of time. I think I had a season at Corinthians, I'm sure.
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Yeah, I'm sure I had a season at Corinthians. But to me, it was my last one
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when I kind of got serious.
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We won the Cal Cup. We had that kind of team of, like, Bri Crellin,
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Marky, me, Jamie Skillen, Tom Weir, Murph, like, Dobro was in it, Nick Kirby, Max Thomas.
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And we won the Cal Club there, and we kind of progressed in,
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like, we went into kind of the combi off the back of St.
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Mary's. The first team was, like, real good. It was, like, Lanny,
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Mark Gorman, that kind of era.
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And, like, that's all we wanted to do. And it was Alan Crellin was,
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like, kind of, and Lanny was our manager. and they were trying to like bring
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that group because they thought we could like kind of go all the way basically.
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I got through it that then, like, you join in then, like, get mixed in that first team.
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When, like, kind of Lange and, like, I didn't really see Higgy,
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to be fair, but he was, like, kind of the generation before.
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Lange was still there, Gorm was there, and then there was, like,
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Liam Cowan, Kinger, people like that, and we kind of got integrated into that one.
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And when the older kind of generation kind of stopped... Yeah,
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they... Lange was the...
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Yeah, Lange was the manager, and he actually made me captain.
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And I was, like, 18, 19, he made me captain.
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It didn't really like yeah i
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i wanted to go another step and that
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was when i decided to go with geordies
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yeah and obviously then from that
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kind of point of view yeah then it just i was up there for yeah that
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was my kind of playing time then and then obviously geordies how
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does that come about does that is that the old senior going
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around poaching people or is it partly your decision
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as well because senior everyone knows like that
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geordie's team in that era senior was the best
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person in the world for poaching people he would go around
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he would he'd ring you he'd be at your house he'd knock on if he'd seen you
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in stride the street he was giving you forms to sign you know it was that kind
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of poaching but you know what i didn't know chris at the time i didn't know
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i was like a young kid not really kind of kind of blase to it i wanted to go
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off my own back yeah like i wanted to go and do it myself and i've always,
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my whole football thing's like that. It's always like me, I'm going to do what I want to do.
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Like, I'm not, I'll listen to people and I'll talk to people,
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but I'm going to do what I want to do.
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And at that time at St Mary's, I thought, if I want to be the best player I
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want to be, I need to go there.
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Yeah. Like, okay, it's easy saying because that's the best team,
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but I'm thinking, well, I want to go there because I want to be the best.
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So I think it was the year, it was the year, Dicko went.
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Right. So I had a little bit of a branch there. So I actually rang him and I
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said, look, I want to and he said yeah definitely like come down yeah 100% he
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goes I've already been I think he'd been to two sessions at Nobles Park,
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come down so he actually said let me
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speak to Bassie and then I was thinking bloody hell what happens if he says
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no like I don't want you and then and then obviously it was hard because I had
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and I'm back there now at St Mary's I've always had like a tie of St Mary's
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because I've watched them like my dad's been there and all the lads have been
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there and I've like there's I've seen photos of like railway cups and hospital
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cups and I'm five or six running around you know what I mean,
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so I remember it's quite a funny story this to be honest with you I went up
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to Norbert Park to go training,
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Dicko said come up we're training Norbert Park I went up,
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train well obviously like as you would well imagine one of senior sessions it's
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like a lot of running and things like that but it suits me like that's my kind
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of game I went up and I was like at the front with Chris and I was pushing him
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and things like that and then,
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senior pulled me at the end and he said look we're going to have to have of
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a chat with the committee about you signing.
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So I said, right, okay, yeah, no one. He goes, I want you.
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But he goes, I think in the summer or a couple of weeks ago,
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there was a party at St George's Clubhouse.
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And you set the fire extinguisher off on everyone and wrecked the place, didn't you?
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And I was like, yeah, I did. So he says, I don't think they want you.
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They don't want that behaviour sort of. Exactly, yeah, yeah.
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Because they had a big committee at the time and it's completely different it is now.
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It was a lot like Peel back then. It was like they had a proper committee and it was like all...
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And coming from St Mary's, it was never like that because St Mary's is just
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like the lads running it and it's just like there's a load of people I help
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out and everyone just gets stuck in.
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This year was like a lot different so he
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went obviously had a conversation with them but i
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think he's obviously fought my corner because he's thought he's got something and
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i want him yeah and he come back and he kind of read me the right act a little
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bit and said look that baby apologize that behavior is not acceptable that they
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told me i'm running the team i'm in charge of this so telling you you can sign
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but we've got our thing and then that was kind of it And then,
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yeah, I joined there and,
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yeah, it was great. We had some fantastic years.
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So going on to that, obviously, Grand Slams, you know, literally there.
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Is that when you started to break into the senior Ireland team as well when you were?
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Yeah, so I think I went up there in 11 and I went to the first Ireland Games in 09.
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So I think when I kind of had I got made Captain of St Mary's I had like a breakthrough
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season you would say Kev Manning pick me.
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In the Ireland games. Went to Ireland, and I was just sub, played very minimal, but it was great.
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Like, at 19, I was there, just kind of scoping it out, like, just happy to be there.
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Like, just go and play as and when he put me on. It was that.
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It was me, Josh Kelly, Jack McVay.
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Who else was there? Anthony Moore was there. That was the kind of,
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like, there was a lot of kids on the bench. It was good.
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So they're the same age as me, so they're going to be, what,
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three years? Yeah, they were like 16, 17, maybe, yeah. and I was like 18, 19.
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So that was kind of when I got into the kind of island team kind of touching
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thing, come back and then I had like kind of a season.
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I think I had one more season after the island games with St.
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Mary's and then I moved to Geordie's.
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But that kind of Geordie's first year kind of like cemented it.
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Yeah, put me in and then obviously around the island team at the time,
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it was tough because obviously I'm a centre midfielder.
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They had Hurtie in there who's like
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we all know about him he's like unbelievable like technical like you can still
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do it now yeah unbelievable like and that's like doing the same football isn't
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it the brain's the last thing to go and like you can see there's loads of players
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like look at Myers and things like that like Jack McVay's doing the same isn't
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he's still playing for FC Alman he's like arguably half not bothered but he's
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always three steps ahead of everyone,
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and Hurtie's still doing it so in that Ireland team it was
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hard to get at the time because P Kelly was in there who was like unbelievable
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at like in the 6 doing that thing and Hurtie was
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doing the 8 because they were playing 4-4-2 at the time and that's the position
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I want and you look and think I'm not getting ahead of him no chance like he's
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he's unbelievable so I was kind of getting dipped in and out in and out and
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then I think like maybe 2 or 3 years and then Hurtie kind of kind of stepped
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away from it and I got my I got my chance then.
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And we had some it was fantastic it was actually Hurtie then that made me captain
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off the Highland when he went And Kev retired and Nick come in.
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Yeah. And he was the one that made me the captain.
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So them years at Geordie's, let's just talk about them, obviously.
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How many Grand Slams was it you won? Three.
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So I was, we were up there, I'd done eight years.
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Eight years, yeah. We'd done three Grand Slams and five Trebles.
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Yeah, it's not back going, is it? No, no. And I listen to, and I look back now,
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and it's easy to look back now, I listen to Johnny's talk and Johnny used to
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always say at the time and I think Bassey said it as well when he was on,
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my only thing with it is you don't
00:14:08.204 --> 00:14:13.424
we didn't celebrate enough life's too serious in a way no not that we,
00:14:14.104 --> 00:14:17.884
we set out every year to win the Grand Slam so the Railway Cup would come round
00:14:17.884 --> 00:14:20.584
you'd win it you'd have a bit of a night out but it wouldn't be major because
00:14:20.584 --> 00:14:24.104
you're like that's gone they're here to win the FA Cup and then that's gone
00:14:24.104 --> 00:14:26.464
and then you need to win the league and then you'll win the league and you get
00:14:26.464 --> 00:14:28.984
to the Hospital Cup and you get beat and you're like.
00:14:30.369 --> 00:14:34.889
We've celebrated each one in the beginning. Because we just set out to win the
00:14:34.889 --> 00:14:38.629
Grand Slam because even before I got there, they were going for it and that's what they wanted.
00:14:38.669 --> 00:14:41.949
So when I come in, it was like we win the Grand Slam and I'm like,
00:14:42.109 --> 00:14:45.329
I'm coming from St Mary's thinking, I just want to win a trophy.
00:14:45.629 --> 00:14:49.049
Like we've been close. Like I was with St Mary's, we were close and everything.
00:14:49.429 --> 00:14:51.629
Got beaten semi-finals, in the Real League Cup all the time,
00:14:51.709 --> 00:14:54.069
getting beat. And I was like, I just want to win something.
00:14:54.529 --> 00:15:00.249
And when you get up there, it's that mentality. It's like, you've got to do something special.
00:15:01.209 --> 00:15:02.549
To get a well done.
00:15:03.549 --> 00:15:07.229
I'd be down St Mary's and you'd have a decent game, score a goal and play well
00:15:07.229 --> 00:15:09.249
and everyone's like, you're great, you're great, you're great.
00:15:09.329 --> 00:15:12.329
You go up there, score a goal, do all right and someone else's score a goal
00:15:12.329 --> 00:15:15.149
and done all right and it's nothing said, you just move on to the next game.
00:15:16.029 --> 00:15:20.449
But it's a mentality thing now because you realise if you're going to survive
00:15:20.449 --> 00:15:23.889
here, you've got to kind of just keep pushing the barrier.
00:15:24.509 --> 00:15:27.689
It's one of them, isn't it? And then, do you look back on that now though?
00:15:27.789 --> 00:15:31.389
Obviously, you say you look back on that and you think you should have celebrated more but
00:15:31.389 --> 00:15:34.249
do you look at them trophies that you've got at home and the little medals and
00:15:34.249 --> 00:15:37.529
think actually it was all worth it oh 100%
00:15:37.529 --> 00:15:40.209
like it like me at the time I always remember there
00:15:40.209 --> 00:15:43.409
was a couple of people around St Mary's at the time which was
00:15:43.409 --> 00:15:47.109
like talking about my handbag and they were just saying let him go because he
00:15:47.109 --> 00:15:49.689
won't get in that team anyway because they were looking at Geordie's Geordie's
00:15:49.689 --> 00:15:52.909
were good at the time and I'm just like you could say jumping on the bandwagon
00:15:52.909 --> 00:15:57.229
to a point and I think over the eight years I was there I'd done more than enough
00:15:57.229 --> 00:16:01.329
to prove that I wasn't just jumping on the bandwagon to win a couple of trophies and leave.
00:16:01.769 --> 00:16:03.989
But there was a few people at St. Mary saying, well, just let him go.
00:16:04.449 --> 00:16:07.969
There was people fighting like mad to keep me, like real fighting like mad. And they were like.
00:16:08.557 --> 00:16:12.277
Gerard was up the house and Lange was up the house and it gets like very like,
00:16:12.457 --> 00:16:16.377
it's emotional because they're like pleading with you not to leave.
00:16:16.597 --> 00:16:19.257
And you're like, I've got to, this is like, I've got to do this.
00:16:19.377 --> 00:16:22.277
You've got to explain your story to them and tell your reasons.
00:16:22.577 --> 00:16:26.517
I'm always like, I'm quite strong minded. I'm like, and I'm doing what I want
00:16:26.517 --> 00:16:28.617
to do and that's it. And I'll say what I've got to say.
00:16:28.897 --> 00:16:31.177
Like, and some people don't like it. Some people do like it.
00:16:31.237 --> 00:16:32.637
And at that time I was like, look, I'm going.
00:16:32.897 --> 00:16:35.577
Like, I'm being openly honest. I'm going. That's it.
00:16:35.657 --> 00:16:38.437
I've got to go and try it. it's a hard thing to do in Manx football
00:16:38.437 --> 00:16:41.677
as well to say to a club that you've been at since you were a kid I'm going
00:16:41.677 --> 00:16:44.717
like there's a lot of as you say emotional attachment there
00:16:44.717 --> 00:16:47.517
but there's a lot of investment in you from like other people in
00:16:47.517 --> 00:16:50.377
the club as well like coaching and things like that and that's probably where
00:16:50.377 --> 00:16:54.377
you see in the light of Gerrard and Lange coming at you from saying we've give
00:16:54.377 --> 00:16:56.757
you all this time can you not just give us a little bit more and that's what
00:16:56.757 --> 00:16:59.537
they're thinking isn't it yeah yeah definitely and you see it all the way through
00:16:59.537 --> 00:17:03.317
don't you all the way through football from here to the premiership there's
00:17:03.317 --> 00:17:06.477
always like when people are moving on there's always like You look at that Trent
00:17:06.477 --> 00:17:08.337
situation, and then Trent Alexander-Arnold's like,
00:17:08.597 --> 00:17:11.457
I know it's a premiership football, but it's a perfect example of someone who's
00:17:11.457 --> 00:17:15.317
come through a youth system and wants to go and now potentially better himself.
00:17:15.577 --> 00:17:16.697
And the fallout's massive.
00:17:17.277 --> 00:17:20.597
At the end of the day, the same in local football, because they've invested
00:17:20.597 --> 00:17:24.217
time in you and they just want a little bit more out of you because they can't
00:17:24.217 --> 00:17:26.277
see the bigger picture that you're seeing in your head, I think,
00:17:26.357 --> 00:17:28.237
is the way to put it sometimes.
00:17:28.417 --> 00:17:30.137
Yeah, definitely. And do you know what? I could have went up there,
00:17:30.617 --> 00:17:35.537
done a year, and thought, this isn't for me, and just went back and being okay
00:17:35.537 --> 00:17:37.437
with it. You know, like, and it would have been like that.
00:17:37.537 --> 00:17:40.537
But when I got up there, I knew this was what I wanted. Like,
00:17:40.617 --> 00:17:41.857
this is like, I want to be...
00:17:42.360 --> 00:17:45.400
Driven i want to like not miss like
00:17:45.400 --> 00:17:48.420
i don't miss training like if i'm in i'm in like with anything
00:17:48.420 --> 00:17:51.180
like with my work with my life like if i'm
00:17:51.180 --> 00:17:57.020
doing something i'm in i'm not 20 in i'm not 50 in i'm not 100 in and the time
00:17:57.020 --> 00:18:00.860
yeah all the time like i am and up there at that time with geordie's it was
00:18:00.860 --> 00:18:03.480
three times a week wasn't it it was two ball sessions and you're out running
00:18:03.480 --> 00:18:09.080
as well yeah and do you know what was mad about it like it was it was no one's
00:18:09.080 --> 00:18:10.580
talked about this i spoke about Basian,
00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:13.080
I'm just surprised he didn't say it, it was a double session,
00:18:13.460 --> 00:18:17.960
so it was like four, because what we'd do is do two of Geordie's,
00:18:18.060 --> 00:18:21.420
and we'd have a Wednesday at the Isle of Man, but before we go Isle of Man training,
00:18:21.580 --> 00:18:24.480
we'd have to go and do the steps, and he says, don't think you're going,
00:18:24.860 --> 00:18:27.720
messing around the Isle of Man down there training, without doing the run,
00:18:27.900 --> 00:18:31.980
so we'd be like, let's say running on a Monday or Tuesday, whenever the session
00:18:31.980 --> 00:18:34.040
was, a Wednesday we'd have Isle of Man training,
00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:37.140
and at that time, the Isle of Man were playing all the time, so like, you
00:18:37.140 --> 00:18:40.720
would be in at NLS Cup or you'd be like going for an island game so you
00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:43.480
would you would always be training there'd be a constant training block not
00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:48.320
like now where there's no session no games yeah so you so we but Bassey was
00:18:48.320 --> 00:18:52.200
a bit like I would say he was a bit like Ferguson where he's thinking like I
00:18:52.200 --> 00:18:54.580
don't care about that club I don't care about your country I don't care about
00:18:54.580 --> 00:18:58.180
that like we're running and we're here so he'd make us.
00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:03.020
If he found out we went we didn't do the steps and we went island training he
00:19:03.020 --> 00:19:06.080
just wouldn't pick us at the weekend and he's that brutal and he was that brutal
00:19:06.080 --> 00:19:11.020
but what helped him was like and I've seen it now with like Helping Owl with St.
00:19:11.100 --> 00:19:15.580
Mary's like you've got to have the players to do it like because if he then
00:19:15.580 --> 00:19:18.580
says right Frank you haven't trained and you trained the other man you're out
00:19:18.580 --> 00:19:21.720
and I went alright yeah sound and then but the other players didn't do it or
00:19:21.720 --> 00:19:26.100
he's got four or five he can't do it but that core group of lads of like 16
00:19:26.100 --> 00:19:29.340
20 players were all pulling in the same direction so,
00:19:30.580 --> 00:19:34.080
he's a great manager and he's a great thing but he had the players on side because,
00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:38.300
if I didn't train and went, let's say I didn't train down the steps,
00:19:38.700 --> 00:19:41.680
turned up at Ireland training, most of the Journey's lads are there and they'd
00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:43.440
say to me, why weren't you down the steps?
00:19:43.600 --> 00:19:46.200
Yeah, and it was the core of that squad as well, wasn't it? Massive.
00:19:46.320 --> 00:19:47.600
It was like the whole squad near enough. Yeah.
00:19:48.020 --> 00:19:52.800
And it was like, they're doing his fighting for you.
00:19:53.040 --> 00:19:56.480
But, you know, you'd be in the same position if someone else hadn't done that.
00:19:56.560 --> 00:19:58.400
You'd be on their camp and get in someone's back.
00:19:58.520 --> 00:20:01.600
And I go back to, this was like, I've never missed. So I could do all the shouting
00:20:01.600 --> 00:20:06.780
and screaming because like, and that's like why maybe sometimes I got made captain.
00:20:07.700 --> 00:20:11.020
Through all the clubs I went to because they knew how dedicated
00:20:11.020 --> 00:20:15.180
I was and then you'd go for a run and I'd be at the front because naturally
00:20:15.180 --> 00:20:18.580
I'd go back to that's my game so I'd be at the front of the run and they're
00:20:18.580 --> 00:20:21.900
like well he can scream and shout and he can do the running and he can do this
00:20:21.900 --> 00:20:25.880
let's make him captain because he's leading from example in the sessions yeah
00:20:25.880 --> 00:20:28.960
he's leading by example from that he doesn't miss training he does like,
00:20:29.730 --> 00:20:34.490
You go back to like Geordie's, like for eight years there, like people were not missing games.
00:20:34.670 --> 00:20:38.450
Like people now, like, which is fine. And that's what it is.
00:20:38.530 --> 00:20:40.830
Like Liverpool play on Saturday. I'm going to Liverpool game,
00:20:41.050 --> 00:20:42.090
like three or four of them. That's fine.
00:20:42.670 --> 00:20:45.930
That era there, like people just wouldn't do that. They would have their holidays
00:20:45.930 --> 00:20:46.890
in like the June and July.
00:20:47.110 --> 00:20:48.970
They'd plan it around a football team. And then someone would be like,
00:20:49.070 --> 00:20:52.450
I'm away on Saturday. And then the rest of the lads in the group would be like, why?
00:20:53.250 --> 00:20:55.330
We've got like rushing away on Saturday and you're going away.
00:20:55.550 --> 00:20:58.750
Like what? And then be like, oh, and you feel under pressure.
00:20:58.750 --> 00:21:03.090
And if that's right or wrong it is but at the time the attitude you just had
00:21:03.090 --> 00:21:08.370
as a club as a squad and you're in that bubble you don't see the bigger picture
00:21:08.370 --> 00:21:11.250
you don't see outside it you don't see what people think of you don't like you're
00:21:11.250 --> 00:21:12.210
just in that and you're thinking,
00:21:12.890 --> 00:21:15.550
we're going to win everything and that's it that's all we're here to do we're
00:21:15.550 --> 00:21:17.570
going to train and we're going to win everything and you.
00:21:18.730 --> 00:21:23.310
It's the thing saying isn't it like not people are always jealous of what you
00:21:23.310 --> 00:21:27.550
achieve they're not jealous of how you achieve it yeah and there's no better
00:21:27.550 --> 00:21:30.670
like thing than that People think, oh, you've got all the best players on the
00:21:30.670 --> 00:21:31.510
Ironman. You should be winning.
00:21:31.750 --> 00:21:37.030
Okay, we should be player for player, but we're training for sessions a week.
00:21:37.890 --> 00:21:42.170
Someone else go and does that, and we played like them. You're thinking about
00:21:42.170 --> 00:21:44.230
this as well. You're not paid to do them sessions.
00:21:44.630 --> 00:21:48.250
You're not paid. You're giving up time with your family, your friends, and all that as well.
00:21:48.590 --> 00:21:53.190
It's a personal dedication. It's not something. If you were being paid for it,
00:21:53.710 --> 00:21:56.650
then it's a different kettle of fish, but you're not even being paid to do that.
00:21:56.650 --> 00:22:01.690
Yeah, and I do honestly think there was the time when Falky had Peele and he
00:22:01.690 --> 00:22:05.490
had the likes of Gale, Ash Webster, Josh Kelly, Dom was there.
00:22:05.810 --> 00:22:09.130
And that team was so good and it ran all over to the wire.
00:22:09.330 --> 00:22:15.690
But every kind of time, we would just edge them. And you're thinking...
00:22:17.148 --> 00:22:21.108
Them maybe two or three seasons, like Peel could have swapped with us,
00:22:21.288 --> 00:22:23.968
be good off, but it was, was it all them extra sessions?
00:22:24.108 --> 00:22:27.848
Was it that kind of togetherness that we had that just got us over that line?
00:22:27.848 --> 00:22:29.288
Over that line every time against them.
00:22:29.308 --> 00:22:32.928
Did you have that extra two yards at the end of a game where you had to play
00:22:32.928 --> 00:22:34.708
Peel in a fight? You know, it's one of them, isn't it?
00:22:34.908 --> 00:22:40.308
And we'd play teams and like it wouldn't be, it'd be a close game and like they're
00:22:40.308 --> 00:22:44.028
good players and we're playing against good players and then the last 20 minutes we'd win 5-0.
00:22:44.268 --> 00:22:46.228
Yeah. And you're like, And you're getting up to you and thinking,
00:22:46.488 --> 00:22:48.748
that was never a 5-0 game. Never. No.
00:22:49.228 --> 00:22:56.128
But, so, your time at Geordie's, obviously, because since then,
00:22:56.308 --> 00:22:58.448
we'll go into your Ireland team now.
00:22:58.548 --> 00:23:02.748
So, when you're in the Ireland squad and you're playing with them, with the national side.
00:23:03.348 --> 00:23:08.148
Because after, just so everyone clears up, how does it end at Geordie's for you?
00:23:08.228 --> 00:23:11.148
What ends it? yeah so it was it
00:23:11.148 --> 00:23:14.108
was when it was kind of like senior said
00:23:14.108 --> 00:23:17.288
he wasn't doing it yeah and he was kind of walking away and
00:23:17.288 --> 00:23:20.848
dickles they're like well i'm out if he's going and
00:23:20.848 --> 00:23:24.008
it kind of all kind of fractured and again me being
00:23:24.008 --> 00:23:26.728
selfish you could say yeah i'm thinking i'm out of here
00:23:26.728 --> 00:23:29.488
yeah like i'm not hanging around like i'm here do what i've
00:23:29.488 --> 00:23:32.188
done like it's and it sounds terrible like i've got.
00:23:32.188 --> 00:23:34.988
No ties to this place i'm it and i've got ties to
00:23:34.988 --> 00:23:38.208
some areas as you can see now i'm back there and you always
00:23:38.208 --> 00:23:40.928
have a title club I don't care what you say someone will always have at
00:23:40.928 --> 00:23:44.868
that kind of time that'll always gravitate back to that club and at
00:23:44.868 --> 00:23:48.048
that time I thought well he's going it who's
00:23:48.048 --> 00:23:50.828
gonna manage like we're the club had
00:23:50.828 --> 00:23:53.788
changed a lot purely off the fact of like they'd sacrifice
00:23:53.788 --> 00:23:57.308
so much to win so much yeah and in
00:23:57.308 --> 00:24:00.548
that kind of eight eight years it's
00:24:00.548 --> 00:24:03.828
gone from like a massive committee and like a good structured
00:24:03.828 --> 00:24:07.228
club to 16 players winning
00:24:07.228 --> 00:24:10.488
everything and it's kind of like smoke screened behind
00:24:10.488 --> 00:24:13.468
it yeah and it if you
00:24:13.468 --> 00:24:16.248
went back to the club now would they would they change it like would that
00:24:16.248 --> 00:24:19.108
committee like not let that happen but then you don't get that success and
00:24:19.108 --> 00:24:21.868
you don't get that kind of it's it's tough but at that
00:24:21.868 --> 00:24:24.968
time i thought that summer i thought i'm going yeah like that's out and then
00:24:24.968 --> 00:24:27.768
seeing you then come back and it was like in
00:24:27.768 --> 00:24:30.608
and out and i was thinking no chance i'm like i'm like i'm
00:24:30.608 --> 00:24:33.248
i'm already you weren't 100 percent or nothing like you said
00:24:33.248 --> 00:24:36.368
earlier i'm um albo was at st mary's
00:24:36.368 --> 00:24:39.608
obviously i'm good really good friends with alex he was
00:24:39.608 --> 00:24:43.408
like he's been there for a few years he's helped them out he's like he's like
00:24:43.408 --> 00:24:46.668
that he's the heartbeat down there but like at that time he'd done like quite
00:24:46.668 --> 00:24:51.548
well and i thought like a couple of players that they do all right so i spoke
00:24:51.548 --> 00:24:54.328
to jack because he was that thing and he's obviously good friends with me and
00:24:54.328 --> 00:24:57.628
alex i said what do you reckon and jack's just kind of like.
00:24:57.848 --> 00:25:02.648
Well, yeah, if you're going to go, I'll call my wife. Well, okay, let's do it then. Yeah.
00:25:03.417 --> 00:25:07.417
And that's when that one ends. And that's kind of how Geordie's kind of ended.
00:25:07.637 --> 00:25:10.277
Yeah. And I went back to kind of St Mary's. St Mary's. And that was a year.
00:25:10.417 --> 00:25:12.277
I was at St Mary's that year. Yeah.
00:25:12.737 --> 00:25:16.597
I knew Jack come back. I think we've had Sam Holiday come in from Old Boys.
00:25:16.877 --> 00:25:18.377
Yeah. And like the Cummins boys come.
00:25:19.417 --> 00:25:22.437
Sammy Gellin. Josh Kelly. And it was like, yeah. No, they didn't.
00:25:22.537 --> 00:25:24.317
They was the year after. Was that the year after, wasn't it?
00:25:24.337 --> 00:25:26.897
Yeah. Because that first year we went back, we had like Craig Murphy,
00:25:27.117 --> 00:25:28.817
Hudgie. Yeah. There was Halliday.
00:25:29.417 --> 00:25:32.517
Was Sam in there? Or did Sam come the year after? so I might have come the year
00:25:32.517 --> 00:25:36.097
after with like does Kirill play the Nets yeah that's right because the first
00:25:36.097 --> 00:25:43.177
year we back we won the league and we had Sammy Gellan me Declan Declan Cummins Aidan Cummins was there,
00:25:43.957 --> 00:25:48.157
Karl Clarke trying to think of everyone now yeah it was some team though yeah
00:25:48.157 --> 00:25:52.037
and it just kind of all fell together I think they had the kind of core of it and then there was like,
00:25:52.797 --> 00:25:57.277
Craig Murphy he was at Russian the year before and he'd come back Hudgy signed
00:25:57.277 --> 00:26:00.517
me and Jack come Hudgy signed Hudgy signed for every club on the R&B.
00:26:01.437 --> 00:26:04.437
I mean, I don't think there's a club on the island that's much of a sign for
00:26:04.437 --> 00:26:06.277
Germany. You told them they were about still.
00:26:07.017 --> 00:26:11.117
Yeah. And then we went back, obviously, and we, yeah, we won the league and
00:26:11.117 --> 00:26:13.057
it was like the first time Samaria had won the league for so long.
00:26:13.117 --> 00:26:20.257
And it was like, and you always say like, I look back on, I won nine on the
00:26:20.257 --> 00:26:21.997
trot, nine leagues on the trot.
00:26:22.217 --> 00:26:25.017
And I look back and you think, obviously the first one's obviously your best.
00:26:25.297 --> 00:26:28.437
But I look now and I, like that one, I won Samaria's is my best.
00:26:28.657 --> 00:26:32.217
Like it really is. Because everyone come together and you sort of rebuild the club.
00:26:32.617 --> 00:26:35.837
It was just weird. Like, they were doing okay and they were just not there.
00:26:35.937 --> 00:26:38.197
And then we kind of come and it just kind of like clicked.
00:26:38.857 --> 00:26:42.617
And then the year after, because I think it was COVID the year after,
00:26:42.717 --> 00:26:45.897
because that's the year the league got cancelled. Yeah, and we were winning it. We were close, yeah.
00:26:46.117 --> 00:26:48.397
And I was like, I'm still human about it. And I wanted to win 10.
00:26:48.657 --> 00:26:50.697
Yeah. And I can do 10 on the road and no one else has done it.
00:26:50.697 --> 00:26:53.937
I remember having a chat with you and Albo in the OTAC group and we said,
00:26:54.457 --> 00:26:57.217
points per game, we'd have won the league. Yeah, they would have done it.
00:26:57.277 --> 00:27:00.217
If they'd gone points per game, we'd have won the league just from Corinthians
00:27:00.217 --> 00:27:03.177
because I think I don't know I might be wrong here I think.
00:27:04.057 --> 00:27:06.817
Chris Dunn obviously I think Chris Dunn ate
00:27:06.817 --> 00:27:09.597
with me at Geordie's yeah but I don't know if they won the league
00:27:09.597 --> 00:27:12.817
before I think he was on maybe 9 and then I went to St Mary's didn't
00:27:12.817 --> 00:27:15.917
they have a year and then Peel won it maybe I'm not
00:27:15.917 --> 00:27:20.217
too sure because I just had I need to get 10 I want 10 in a row and I went I
00:27:20.217 --> 00:27:25.377
left I had 8 I left won that one for St Mary's I had 9 the year after we had
00:27:25.377 --> 00:27:28.517
the kind of same team the Cummins boys left but we kind of Hattersy and Josh
00:27:28.517 --> 00:27:32.837
come in Josh done his knee didn't he get a charity shield he's still not back
00:27:32.837 --> 00:27:34.877
from that still talking to him now about it.
00:27:36.222 --> 00:27:40.602
Yeah, that was, and that was kind of it. And then obviously COVID hit that. Yeah, and that's COVID.
00:27:40.902 --> 00:27:46.162
So that's your club days as such. Yeah, obviously we'll come back to going back
00:27:46.162 --> 00:27:47.302
to playing club football in a bit.
00:27:47.842 --> 00:27:50.362
Then you go, I just want to talk about your time with the Island team.
00:27:50.482 --> 00:27:55.962
Obviously your Island games, that NLS Cup, you know, they're going to represent England, you know.
00:27:56.782 --> 00:28:00.042
Realistically, you've capped an England side at some point. You know what I mean?
00:28:00.982 --> 00:28:04.622
What was that like? Obviously playing around the different players as well than
00:28:04.622 --> 00:28:06.242
you were. Yeah, it was amazing.
00:28:06.402 --> 00:28:09.122
And I was in that kind of transition there when I first got in the LN team.
00:28:09.202 --> 00:28:12.442
There was like Hurtie and Lacey and all that kind of stuff. So there was that
00:28:12.442 --> 00:28:14.122
kind of like old guard in there as well.
00:28:15.302 --> 00:28:18.902
And the NLS, just going back to that, was like something I really,
00:28:19.102 --> 00:28:23.122
really wanted to do because the core of that squad, the likes of Johnny,
00:28:23.502 --> 00:28:28.982
Sean, Judge, Hurtie, Lacey, Callum, like they'd all done it before.
00:28:29.142 --> 00:28:31.742
Yeah. And they were telling you, like anytime you played in the NLS,
00:28:31.842 --> 00:28:32.802
they were like, we've got to win this.
00:28:32.922 --> 00:28:35.282
Like it's honestly, when you go and play for England, it's unbelievable it's
00:28:35.282 --> 00:28:36.782
unbelievable and you're like,
00:28:37.302 --> 00:28:40.982
I'm listening to this I like need to do it and it obviously only comes around
00:28:40.982 --> 00:28:46.062
every two years and then we got beat in the final and I'm like oh my god it's
00:28:46.062 --> 00:28:50.082
never going to happen and then obviously we beat I think it was Hereshire in
00:28:50.082 --> 00:28:53.322
the final well it was like two years after because that's the way it falls,
00:28:53.822 --> 00:28:56.662
and when we went to we went to Ireland.
00:28:57.622 --> 00:29:02.662
We played we beat them 1-0 on the Saturday and it was unbelievable and that
00:29:02.662 --> 00:29:05.262
Ireland team I think went on and won the whole thing.
00:29:05.702 --> 00:29:09.702
Mad. In the end, we got told. I haven't seen it, but that's what I got told.
00:29:10.102 --> 00:29:13.222
They were like, that team we beat on the Saturday, we beat them 1-0.
00:29:13.522 --> 00:29:17.242
We hung on like you do, and we scrapped, and we, like the Aleman do,
00:29:17.362 --> 00:29:21.322
and we grind out, and we win 1-0.
00:29:21.822 --> 00:29:27.202
And then we went to Slovakia, and we played Slovakia in the first game.
00:29:27.442 --> 00:29:31.662
And then I captained, like you say, if you said, it's amateur,
00:29:31.842 --> 00:29:33.602
isn't it? And let's not think it is amateur.
00:29:33.942 --> 00:29:37.522
But it's probably the highest that we'll do. And I captained England against
00:29:37.522 --> 00:29:39.982
Germany. They absolutely battered us.
00:29:40.362 --> 00:29:43.482
They were unbelievable. They beat us like 7-1. It was like...
00:29:43.482 --> 00:29:46.662
All these lads that have come from professional academies, put them a couple
00:29:46.662 --> 00:29:49.062
of days out, you know, send them away. It was like unbelievable.
00:29:49.322 --> 00:29:55.162
But being in that environment, it gives you that kind of thing of being a pro,
00:29:55.482 --> 00:29:56.982
you know, like a real pro.
00:29:57.222 --> 00:30:01.442
Like they turned up with all the best kit.
00:30:01.542 --> 00:30:04.682
I always remember, you know, like you see the footballs, and they're,
00:30:04.682 --> 00:30:07.402
what are they, like 120, 130 pound, they're proper balls.
00:30:07.702 --> 00:30:11.462
And they've got a transit van, and they just threw like five bags of these like
00:30:11.462 --> 00:30:14.262
brand new, whatever they were, Nike at the time, I think they were.
00:30:14.542 --> 00:30:16.102
They just changed to Nike from Edinburgh.
00:30:16.542 --> 00:30:20.162
So they were Nike, and there must have been, I don't know, like a thousand pounds
00:30:20.162 --> 00:30:20.982
worth of footballs there.
00:30:21.102 --> 00:30:23.142
Just lying on the floor. And they were just like out, and you just,
00:30:23.282 --> 00:30:25.922
they just had, that was just like a step.
00:30:26.202 --> 00:30:28.602
Like we went out, the first game we played for them in Ireland.
00:30:29.794 --> 00:30:33.694
We got changing, like, as you do, you go in, all your kit was out.
00:30:33.934 --> 00:30:36.554
Like, it was like a professional change room because that's all they know.
00:30:36.814 --> 00:30:40.414
You get changed in all your warm-up stuff. And I'm looking around because I
00:30:40.414 --> 00:30:41.274
was number eight at the time.
00:30:41.334 --> 00:30:43.994
I'm looking around, like, for my shirt, and there's, like, nothing out.
00:30:44.034 --> 00:30:44.894
It's just warm-up stuff.
00:30:45.454 --> 00:30:48.814
So, anyway, go out your warm-up, come back in.
00:30:49.034 --> 00:30:51.694
The changing room is immaculate again, right? There's, like,
00:30:51.714 --> 00:30:55.234
a basket in the middle for all your warm-up stuff to go in and all your playing kits out there.
00:30:55.494 --> 00:30:58.154
And, like, you're taking your shorts and socks off again. And I'm like,
00:30:58.294 --> 00:31:00.354
Jesus, you know what? It's like trying to get socks on with your foot,
00:31:00.394 --> 00:31:02.174
your boots and all that. But you get changed again.
00:31:02.474 --> 00:31:05.534
You come in at half time, the change room's exactly the same again.
00:31:05.674 --> 00:31:09.314
If you want to get changed for the second half. There's a spare kit. There's a spare kit.
00:31:09.614 --> 00:31:13.454
And then you come in at the end, they had your flip-flops, your towel.
00:31:13.854 --> 00:31:18.314
And it was as close as being your level. We were ever getting it.
00:31:18.634 --> 00:31:20.934
It's a professional experience, amateur level.
00:31:21.314 --> 00:31:24.594
Yeah, definitely. Definitely it was. It was so good.
00:31:24.594 --> 00:31:30.694
And I like I always say this with the Island team like we have been and I had
00:31:30.694 --> 00:31:35.274
like a real like longevity of a career didn't miss anything like I got really
00:31:35.274 --> 00:31:37.554
lucky I go back like I done my ACL.
00:31:38.574 --> 00:31:41.934
16 15-16 and I done my ACL at 33,
00:31:42.614 --> 00:31:47.834
and between that touch wood I did not miss a thing I played kind of near enough
00:31:47.834 --> 00:31:52.274
every game for St George's I played kind of I was available for the Isle of
00:31:52.274 --> 00:31:56.934
Man and I went on kind of every single trip and like work allowing it,
00:31:57.034 --> 00:31:58.794
like the missus allowing it, all this kind of stuff.
00:31:58.934 --> 00:32:02.614
Like I just, I just went on every... Everything you could. Everything you could.
00:32:03.154 --> 00:32:06.874
And like people, when I go back to the talk about like Ellen Van and like the
00:32:06.874 --> 00:32:08.494
Miefer thing. That's why I was just going to go on to Miefer, yeah.
00:32:09.251 --> 00:32:12.491
It was unbelievable. And then, like, because of what Malcolm done,
00:32:12.551 --> 00:32:15.911
and he upset a lot of people trying to do it, like, people are questioning you,
00:32:16.071 --> 00:32:17.751
like, going to play for him.
00:32:17.811 --> 00:32:20.851
And I was like, look, I said, like, literally, if you give me a kit and tell
00:32:20.851 --> 00:32:22.311
me to go down the park and play, I'm playing.
00:32:22.611 --> 00:32:26.211
I was like, like, he's putting off on a private jet and flying us to Sweden.
00:32:26.831 --> 00:32:29.751
And he's putting on a private jet in between Christmas and New Year and flying
00:32:29.751 --> 00:32:32.611
us to France. I'm like, do you honestly think I'm not going? Yeah.
00:32:32.991 --> 00:32:37.471
Like, and all the places you get to see around the world is,
00:32:37.691 --> 00:32:39.891
like, you're never going. No, you're not, you're not.
00:32:40.071 --> 00:32:43.111
We went to... And they're not the big cities either. It's out of these...
00:32:43.111 --> 00:32:47.191
It's a country, but it's like the authentic bit of that country where you're
00:32:47.191 --> 00:32:49.491
in a little town or whatever. With Mifel, we went to Italy.
00:32:49.751 --> 00:32:53.471
Was it Tuskeny or just outside Tuskeny? It was just outside Tuskeny, I think.
00:32:53.651 --> 00:32:56.711
And it was like, honestly, unbelievable. Like the place was like,
00:32:56.851 --> 00:33:00.391
literally, if I could take the missus and kids there, you would. It was so nice.
00:33:00.551 --> 00:33:05.631
It was like... I went to... I was in Milan in September and I went up towards
00:33:05.631 --> 00:33:08.771
Como and all that area. Yeah. Mate, it's just a different...
00:33:09.471 --> 00:33:12.151
It's like the Island Games. We've been to like Ireland, Gotland,
00:33:12.391 --> 00:33:14.591
places like that. It's like lovely places.
00:33:14.911 --> 00:33:17.691
You've never heard of them, have you, before you go there? Like that Sweden,
00:33:17.871 --> 00:33:21.151
where we were now, it was like the cleanest place I've ever been in the world.
00:33:21.271 --> 00:33:22.971
It was like, it was beautiful.
00:33:24.051 --> 00:33:28.411
But we've had, we have been very lucky to like experience it all, you know.
00:33:28.951 --> 00:33:32.571
And I was only talking, and who the hell was I talking to the other day about
00:33:32.571 --> 00:33:35.351
it? Like, we touch on FC Alman.
00:33:35.591 --> 00:33:41.571
It's like, like if I'm Charlie Higgins now, kyle watson like them kind of kids
00:33:41.571 --> 00:33:45.451
in that team yeah like i'd love to be that because i'm thinking well you've
00:33:45.451 --> 00:33:48.951
got the whole look of it now to have like a proper go at it and try and think,
00:33:49.411 --> 00:33:56.471
but i look back now would i change what i had and i don't think i would i i i think,
00:33:57.151 --> 00:33:59.911
they're gonna miss out on all the weeks away
00:33:59.911 --> 00:34:03.031
of the lads all the trips to random places like it's
00:34:03.031 --> 00:34:06.791
like do you think that though is partly
00:34:06.791 --> 00:34:09.891
because of the way the national team
00:34:09.891 --> 00:34:14.931
has fell sort of down the pecking order in a little bit and like the county's
00:34:14.931 --> 00:34:19.231
football and the cost of it has cost like the Isle of Manifages are costed out
00:34:19.231 --> 00:34:23.851
of it now so they can't experience that whereas like I think they were talking
00:34:23.851 --> 00:34:27.651
to if they didn't get any Island games they were talking of trying to find some
00:34:27.651 --> 00:34:29.531
sort of game somewhere for them to play.
00:34:30.331 --> 00:34:33.091
It's a it's a weird one is it i think it's
00:34:33.091 --> 00:34:36.311
a lot of money involvement that is costing these people the
00:34:36.311 --> 00:34:40.531
experiences but it's one of them it's hard isn't it like like you say it's something
00:34:40.531 --> 00:34:45.071
that you'll never forget yeah like like never forget and and i i look back now
00:34:45.071 --> 00:34:49.591
and think well would i rock if i was 18 now and i was like let's say going to
00:34:49.591 --> 00:34:53.391
st george's doing that with st george's and then going on all them trips with
00:34:53.391 --> 00:34:56.151
mifa and the isle of man team all them fantastic places.
00:34:56.838 --> 00:35:01.678
Or would I want to be 19, 20, playing at the bowl every week in front of 1,000 people?
00:35:01.998 --> 00:35:06.698
It's hard, but I'm like... Because you've been there and done that, you can say it.
00:35:07.018 --> 00:35:12.238
Yeah, so when I look at both now, I think that there is good,
00:35:12.238 --> 00:35:14.918
but it's not happening now, is it?
00:35:15.038 --> 00:35:19.038
No. So you can't choose it now because if they come out of that and go back
00:35:19.038 --> 00:35:23.858
to, let's say, Charlie Higgins, Kyle, go back to Royals or Ramsey,
00:35:24.358 --> 00:35:27.498
they can win everything in Manx football, ball that's fine but
00:35:27.498 --> 00:35:30.358
they haven't got the all the little trips away like what like
00:35:30.358 --> 00:35:33.558
like malcolm what he done was like literally ridiculous
00:35:33.558 --> 00:35:36.838
like that'll never ever happen again and like i'll only
00:35:36.838 --> 00:35:42.898
say it that was the best best footballing week of my life yeah like and it wasn't
00:35:42.898 --> 00:35:45.978
just the football it was all the antics that went on and it was the whole trip
00:35:45.978 --> 00:35:50.198
and the way like we thought we were going out then we were not good we were
00:35:50.198 --> 00:35:53.898
going home and then we were back in and then it's Like a coin toss or something
00:35:53.898 --> 00:35:55.038
on it in the end. Yeah, it was.
00:35:55.498 --> 00:35:59.258
Yeah, like, honestly, it was like so much went on that week.
00:35:59.598 --> 00:36:04.058
It was, yeah, it was mental, but it was the best week. And do you know what?
00:36:04.078 --> 00:36:05.818
I think it was probably good.
00:36:06.078 --> 00:36:09.418
Not good, but it was good that we didn't win it because then people are thinking,
00:36:09.438 --> 00:36:11.138
oh, yeah, it was not that good.
00:36:11.298 --> 00:36:14.878
But honestly, we played that first game.
00:36:15.458 --> 00:36:21.118
I would say that is the best man squad I've, squad, not 11.
00:36:21.118 --> 00:36:23.818
That is the best man squad I think you could
00:36:23.818 --> 00:36:26.778
probably like the likes of your centre-halves like I'll
00:36:26.778 --> 00:36:30.518
just name a few now like as a manager who you're picking here so there's Seamus
00:36:30.518 --> 00:36:34.838
Sharkey there's Liam Doyle Alex Harrison you could say Jack but he was playing
00:36:34.838 --> 00:36:39.038
more of a six there was Sean Quay no that was like the four of them and like
00:36:39.038 --> 00:36:42.478
you're looking and thinking it's unbelievable like you've got Judge you've got
00:36:42.478 --> 00:36:45.998
P Kelly you've got Bella you've got Maka Liam Cowan,
00:36:46.478 --> 00:36:51.678
Callum Pecker like Bassey obviously like Joey Mullen Anthony Moore.
00:36:51.958 --> 00:36:54.438
No, if you were coming, he didn't go to Sweden, yeah.
00:36:55.018 --> 00:36:57.278
But it was like, it was...
00:36:57.882 --> 00:37:00.862
That squad was unbelievable. And whatever he'd done, Bassey,
00:37:00.982 --> 00:37:05.422
he'd just change the team. Yeah, it worked. But it wouldn't even murmur.
00:37:05.782 --> 00:37:09.722
Callum didn't even really play. Pekka was the main person, and I played off
00:37:09.722 --> 00:37:11.902
him. And we kind of played 4-5-1.
00:37:12.242 --> 00:37:16.082
And then the next game, Callum played, and I played off Callum.
00:37:16.302 --> 00:37:17.962
And it was just like, he scored a hatchet, Callum.
00:37:18.842 --> 00:37:23.242
People just coming in and out, and it was a great squad.
00:37:23.382 --> 00:37:26.942
But no one's going to... Malcolm had a...
00:37:27.882 --> 00:37:30.742
He had a niche. He had a dream, like, I'm going to make this happen.
00:37:30.882 --> 00:37:34.762
And he just buried away and done it. And he, like, he must have blew.
00:37:35.042 --> 00:37:37.802
I was going to say, though, Malcolm was fortunate enough to have the money to
00:37:37.802 --> 00:37:39.422
do it as well. Like, he was... Yeah.
00:37:39.602 --> 00:37:43.822
And I know he's asked people, he got sponsors in, he had people helping out. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:37:44.182 --> 00:37:48.302
But he had the money. And do you know what? He never, ever asked anyone for a penny.
00:37:48.502 --> 00:37:50.942
No. Like, we'd go... I said to Malcolm, why are we... Because,
00:37:51.062 --> 00:37:52.322
obviously, I was one of the players as well.
00:37:52.382 --> 00:37:56.562
I kind of went on... Let's say there was four of me for trips. I went in every one.
00:37:57.082 --> 00:38:01.062
New bag every time. New training kit. New tracksuit. I was like,
00:38:01.442 --> 00:38:02.902
you're wasting your money.
00:38:03.042 --> 00:38:06.962
You know yourself. If you go out and buy that for 30 people. Oh, yeah.
00:38:07.262 --> 00:38:10.702
It's a lot. I was like, why aren't you just recycling it and just giving it to another squad?
00:38:11.582 --> 00:38:16.622
No, no, no. If we're doing it, and I'm like, fair play, mad, mad.
00:38:16.962 --> 00:38:20.202
Right, so that's your island time. That's your playing time. COVID hits.
00:38:20.802 --> 00:38:23.262
Everyone has a break. FC Island Man comes about.
00:38:24.016 --> 00:38:27.516
Yeah. Obviously, this is probably the first time you've talked about everything
00:38:27.516 --> 00:38:31.516
with FC Isleman since you left. Yeah. Like, publicly, anyways.
00:38:31.996 --> 00:38:34.876
So, FC Isleman, what's the start of that like for you?
00:38:35.556 --> 00:38:38.796
Well, obviously, when you start hearing about it, like, you just want to do it, don't you? Yeah.
00:38:38.956 --> 00:38:43.636
Like, you're thinking, this is, like, because when every kind of,
00:38:43.696 --> 00:38:44.916
I'll just go back to the Island team in a second.
00:38:45.076 --> 00:38:49.376
Like, when Paul was the manager of the Island team, when, like,
00:38:49.536 --> 00:38:51.796
Hurley was the manager of the Island team, like we would sit there and like
00:38:51.796 --> 00:38:55.296
we'd get beaten like the like the umbro cup where we're playing Scotland and
00:38:55.296 --> 00:38:58.616
all that like very good we'd have like a bit of a chat afterwards and you're
00:38:58.616 --> 00:39:00.056
like we can compete at this level
00:39:00.456 --> 00:39:04.196
but we need to be playing at that level every week and there's only one way
00:39:04.196 --> 00:39:08.416
and that was to get across and play in the English League or play in the Irish League and like,
00:39:08.876 --> 00:39:11.756
every kind of year we'd have this conversation where you'd go to them umbros
00:39:11.756 --> 00:39:14.776
you'd struggle in the first game you'd kind of get a result and by the end of
00:39:14.776 --> 00:39:18.236
the week like the weekend you'd be like holding your own and like thinking we
00:39:18.236 --> 00:39:21.196
can do this it's just mindset and getting everyone like up to speed.
00:39:21.656 --> 00:39:25.216
And we'd always say, the only way we're going to do it is get across the water.
00:39:25.356 --> 00:39:29.056
So then obviously when FC comes around and then it gets a bit of momentum and
00:39:29.056 --> 00:39:32.436
you're thinking like, like fair play to the, like fair play to Jonesy,
00:39:32.536 --> 00:39:35.276
you know, like he like kind of threw it out the ground, like,
00:39:35.336 --> 00:39:37.776
and people have talked about it for 20 years, I think.
00:39:38.176 --> 00:39:41.956
And he's kind of threw it out the ground and ran with it. And put that committee
00:39:41.956 --> 00:39:45.156
together to get everyone going, you know, there was like, I think it was Burns,
00:39:45.316 --> 00:39:48.316
you know, there was a couple of other people that I can't remember the names
00:39:48.316 --> 00:39:50.376
of. Gary Waveman was obviously the first chairman.
00:39:50.976 --> 00:39:55.556
He'd got a lot of people involved in sport and business on the Isle of Man together to get this going.
00:39:55.736 --> 00:39:58.676
Yeah, 100%. And I think, like, I went to a couple of talks that he'd done and
00:39:58.676 --> 00:40:01.536
he talks very well and he's got, like, a presentation and, like.
00:40:02.156 --> 00:40:04.916
You're always going to get people against it. You're always going to be like
00:40:04.916 --> 00:40:06.076
this, this, and this. And, like.
00:40:07.488 --> 00:40:10.448
I was in it at the time. Like, when I'm looking at the presentation,
00:40:10.448 --> 00:40:12.588
I'm just thinking, well, I want to play in it now.
00:40:12.788 --> 00:40:16.008
Like, that's it. I don't really care about, like, Manx football or stuff.
00:40:16.228 --> 00:40:21.408
Like, again, I go back being selfish. Like, just get me in that team because I want to play.
00:40:21.928 --> 00:40:25.088
But now I look at it, like, I've got two young boys coming through and,
00:40:25.188 --> 00:40:29.808
like, my young boys go down there every single Saturday they play at home and
00:40:29.808 --> 00:40:33.128
they can't wait to go down and, like, they just want to play in it.
00:40:33.128 --> 00:40:37.348
So it's given everyone that kind of stride.
00:40:37.708 --> 00:40:40.848
I think it's touched the community so much.
00:40:41.308 --> 00:40:46.008
And I think outside of Manx football, when you go down there,
00:40:46.208 --> 00:40:47.848
it's not Manx football down there. No.
00:40:48.008 --> 00:40:51.988
It's like people with kids, and then they go down because their kids want to go.
00:40:52.248 --> 00:40:54.608
And then what they go is they go out and they actually enjoy it.
00:40:54.708 --> 00:40:56.108
And they think, I'll come next Saturday.
00:40:56.368 --> 00:40:59.548
The kid wants to go down, get them down. Then they actually sit there and go.
00:40:59.968 --> 00:41:02.968
And you see people down there that you're thinking, they don't even like football.
00:41:03.408 --> 00:41:06.928
But they like the community aspect of it. Exactly, and it's the Isle of Man, isn't it?
00:41:07.288 --> 00:41:11.928
And you know yourself with the Isle of Man, with anything, once the Manx public
00:41:11.928 --> 00:41:13.948
get behind something, they can get behind it.
00:41:14.128 --> 00:41:18.148
But again, you've got to be careful because if they twitch the other way,
00:41:18.308 --> 00:41:21.808
they can just write you off. They can just kill you straight away.
00:41:21.888 --> 00:41:29.128
Oh, 100%. And then, obviously, you go into that first game, you play the friendlies and stuff, that's it.
00:41:29.308 --> 00:41:32.548
Yeah. Go into that first game, and then you do what you do.
00:41:33.128 --> 00:41:38.228
Yeah, it was such, yeah, and I always say this about that game,
00:41:38.248 --> 00:41:40.148
it was such a high to such a low.
00:41:41.418 --> 00:41:46.978
Obviously, Bassey gets the job as manager. Then he puts his squad together.
00:41:47.258 --> 00:41:50.338
Like me thinking, well, I'm going to be in it. I've got to be in it.
00:41:50.458 --> 00:41:53.498
I'm like things like that. So anyway, I was getting named captain.
00:41:53.718 --> 00:41:58.598
So like you're over the moon because you're part of it. And it's like the same
00:41:58.598 --> 00:42:01.138
group of lads. There's obviously people coming in a bit more.
00:42:01.738 --> 00:42:07.018
We travel to main road. And it was like such a like a historic day it was,
00:42:07.178 --> 00:42:09.318
wasn't it? Like there was like all the board travel.
00:42:09.538 --> 00:42:12.618
There was like a load of fans there. It was real good.
00:42:12.798 --> 00:42:19.058
And then I think it was like 10, 12 minutes in, I managed to score the first
00:42:19.058 --> 00:42:23.758
goal, which I look back now and it's fantastic, isn't it? Because history.
00:42:24.218 --> 00:42:27.518
Yeah, and you can't take that away. That's one thing that'll never get took
00:42:27.518 --> 00:42:30.158
away as long as hopefully FC Alman lasts forever.
00:42:30.538 --> 00:42:34.698
And it'll always be like, who scored the first goal? Club quizzes and stuff.
00:42:35.158 --> 00:42:38.238
And it's even like my boys, I go back to them, they love it.
00:42:38.338 --> 00:42:42.098
So hopefully they'll play in the team. and they'll be like, oh my dad scored
00:42:42.098 --> 00:42:45.818
the first goal or people will still talk about that kind of moment but yeah,
00:42:45.938 --> 00:42:50.378
from that and then 10 minutes later I snap my ACL,
00:42:50.878 --> 00:42:55.578
so it's like and then it's all I didn't know at the time,
00:42:56.218 --> 00:42:58.938
I then get back from after the game.
00:42:59.738 --> 00:43:05.458
We end up throwing the game 1-1 I get back and because I hadn't been injured,
00:43:05.778 --> 00:43:09.498
I just knew something wasn't right, I just knew it wasn't And I don't know,
00:43:09.738 --> 00:43:10.738
sometimes it's instinct.
00:43:11.758 --> 00:43:15.318
So I went and Kel was the physio at the time. He was testing it.
00:43:15.398 --> 00:43:18.038
And I said, I'm going to get an MRI. And he was like, well, yeah,
00:43:18.118 --> 00:43:19.318
if you want to, that's fine.
00:43:19.678 --> 00:43:22.498
So I traveled with the team the next Saturday.
00:43:23.738 --> 00:43:26.518
I think it might have been Wivenshawe, because I went to Wivenshawe Hospital,
00:43:26.758 --> 00:43:31.358
got an MRI and it come back. And they said basically like, you've got a tear in the ACL.
00:43:32.893 --> 00:43:37.013
There's damage around the meniscus, this, this, and this. Spoke to a surgeon,
00:43:37.013 --> 00:43:41.713
and he basically said, like, with your age, if you want to try and play again,
00:43:41.793 --> 00:43:44.693
like, this year, like, just rehab it. Don't play.
00:43:44.813 --> 00:43:49.493
Just rehab like mad, and maybe you can get back.
00:43:50.013 --> 00:43:53.033
So, anyway, I'd done that, and this is, again, me being, like,
00:43:53.113 --> 00:43:54.553
my stubborn, like, I'm going to do it. Do you know what I mean?
00:43:54.553 --> 00:43:57.573
I'm, like, 33 at the time, and people are, like, why are you bothering?
00:43:57.873 --> 00:44:01.113
Like, you've scored your goal. Like, you've done what you've done.
00:44:01.493 --> 00:44:04.793
Like, why are you bothering? I'm like, no, I want to play. I'm like, I want to play.
00:44:05.773 --> 00:44:10.273
That's me. I just want to do it. So I rehabbed like mad, and I was like close
00:44:10.273 --> 00:44:11.353
to back. It was around Christmas.
00:44:11.993 --> 00:44:14.973
I still blame Liam Doyle over this. He'd be listening to it, so I'll blame him.
00:44:15.333 --> 00:44:19.053
So we're in training, and I'm like literally back training, and it's been great,
00:44:19.173 --> 00:44:20.893
and it's held up well and everything.
00:44:21.433 --> 00:44:25.233
We were doing like an end-to-end game, but it was like Dicko's,
00:44:25.293 --> 00:44:27.653
it's quite a good session where you can only mark one man.
00:44:27.853 --> 00:44:30.893
So like if he's running with the ball, you're the only person that can tackle
00:44:30.893 --> 00:44:34.413
him. If he passes it, then there's someone else that can tackle that man. So I had Simo.
00:44:34.913 --> 00:44:38.973
I had the ball to the other side. Simo switched off. I turned with the ball,
00:44:38.993 --> 00:44:39.993
and he's running the other way.
00:44:40.153 --> 00:44:43.313
And Simo's trying to chase me. Obviously, miles faster than me as well. He's catching me.
00:44:43.893 --> 00:44:48.093
Liam Burles stood as a defender, but he just stands still. He can't tackle me,
00:44:48.153 --> 00:44:50.573
but he's just, obviously, he's against me. He stands still.
00:44:50.753 --> 00:44:53.913
And I pivot to go round him, and my knee just snapped.
00:44:54.293 --> 00:44:57.473
And I was, like, down. And, like, I knew at that point, I was like,
00:44:57.833 --> 00:45:00.593
so again, then I went and got another MRI.
00:45:01.273 --> 00:45:06.173
And they said, yeah, it snapped. So I spoke to a surgeon, and he said to me,
00:45:06.273 --> 00:45:11.233
the only way now is a full reek and a cup under the knee. And he said not just to play football.
00:45:11.933 --> 00:45:15.953
He asked about my kids, and he says, have you got two kids?
00:45:16.553 --> 00:45:20.093
What you don't want to do is be playing football with them in 10 years' time,
00:45:20.233 --> 00:45:21.973
and your knee popping, and you're dropping on the floor.
00:45:22.253 --> 00:45:26.053
You want to still be able to be mobile, and he was working, all this kind of stuff.
00:45:26.533 --> 00:45:29.693
So then I took the thing. lucky enough
00:45:29.693 --> 00:45:33.093
I was fortunate to be able to go private that was
00:45:33.093 --> 00:45:35.813
like in the December I had the scan I got the operation done in
00:45:35.813 --> 00:45:39.113
March yeah and then obviously it was like an 18
00:45:39.113 --> 00:45:41.873
month uh big recovery then yeah
00:45:41.873 --> 00:45:44.553
just like and at that kind of age you're thinking
00:45:44.553 --> 00:45:49.713
am I gonna get back am I like am I and I I just so many people I heard murmuring
00:45:49.713 --> 00:45:52.233
you go back to like the like what I was saying about the St Mary's people like
00:45:52.233 --> 00:45:57.453
people in the background saying he's done like that's him done like he's he's
00:45:57.453 --> 00:46:02.333
33 34 like he's done his ACL like he's done and I'm thinking no chance like
00:46:02.333 --> 00:46:03.293
I'm not finishing on that
00:46:03.713 --> 00:46:06.613
absolutely no chance so I worked hard and,
00:46:07.273 --> 00:46:12.773
then I got back at that I got back in the team and I played the it's been like
00:46:12.773 --> 00:46:15.833
two years because I've I seen it on like on my time hop the other day there
00:46:15.833 --> 00:46:19.813
it was like the first game after Christmas it was like the fourth of Jan or something two years ago.
00:46:20.911 --> 00:46:24.351
I come on a sub. I played in that game, and honestly, I thought,
00:46:24.591 --> 00:46:28.591
oh, my God, I am miles away, like miles away.
00:46:28.711 --> 00:46:32.631
I trained for, like, two months leading up to it, me doing all the tests,
00:46:32.711 --> 00:46:36.251
and, like, I was back in, like, training with games, but there's nothing,
00:46:36.251 --> 00:46:39.111
like, going on. The real experience.
00:46:39.471 --> 00:46:42.071
Yeah, like, the speed of it and everything like that, and obviously the adrenaline
00:46:42.071 --> 00:46:45.391
from just making my comeback and all this kind of stuff, and I was just,
00:46:45.551 --> 00:46:49.271
like, I am miles away, miles away.
00:46:49.271 --> 00:46:53.031
And then it was quite good though because I had half a season then to kind of
00:46:53.031 --> 00:46:57.111
like ease back in and I always had in my head I thought right I'm just going to like ease back in now,
00:46:57.591 --> 00:47:02.691
and I will then have a proper hard pre-season bearing in mind at this time now
00:47:02.691 --> 00:47:07.471
I'm like 35 yep I'll have a proper hard pre-season and I'll just like have like
00:47:07.471 --> 00:47:10.571
a good garden next year and see where I'm at,
00:47:11.191 --> 00:47:17.771
and that season like we played like and I've had this conversation where in
00:47:17.771 --> 00:47:21.111
that summer I'd come back. I'd had like six months in the squad. Yeah.
00:47:21.411 --> 00:47:24.991
Not even six months, like four or five months, isn't it? To the end of the season.
00:47:25.251 --> 00:47:28.051
You come to that summer. I've trained in that summer. And I'm thinking to myself,
00:47:28.091 --> 00:47:32.811
I'm going to this year. Like I'm coming up to 36. I would have been in the October of that last season.
00:47:33.151 --> 00:47:37.131
And I'm thinking like, what can I do? So there was, I think it was 46 games.
00:47:37.491 --> 00:47:39.171
And I played in 44 of them.
00:47:39.691 --> 00:47:43.291
I missed two games. One, I was injured.
00:47:44.931 --> 00:47:49.051
And one was a double header. and he played one day but not the other exactly
00:47:49.051 --> 00:47:53.271
yeah so like again I go back to if I'm in I'm in do you know what I mean I'm
00:47:53.271 --> 00:47:55.871
committed I didn't really like I went on holiday with the kids,
00:47:56.411 --> 00:48:00.631
we went to Dubai I played on the Saturday we flew out on the Sunday to Dubai.
00:48:01.331 --> 00:48:04.471
And I actually said to Jones I said look I'm back in England on the
00:48:04.471 --> 00:48:07.691
Saturday morning like they were playing West Didsbury and
00:48:07.691 --> 00:48:10.551
I said like through to Manchester didn't you and I said like I'm not like
00:48:10.551 --> 00:48:13.251
obviously I'm landing back in Manchester because again I go back to
00:48:13.251 --> 00:48:15.951
my kids they wanted to go to the game so like we went to the game on
00:48:15.951 --> 00:48:19.291
the Saturday day i played we played bersko we flew
00:48:19.291 --> 00:48:22.191
out of manchester on the sunday and then we left dubai on
00:48:22.191 --> 00:48:25.131
the friday you're coming back on just the way the flights were it landed
00:48:25.131 --> 00:48:28.571
in manchester friday saturday morning and we
00:48:28.571 --> 00:48:31.491
were going to then go and watch the game because the kids like they love it so they
00:48:31.491 --> 00:48:34.631
like we're going to watch west did we i messaged jonesy
00:48:34.631 --> 00:48:37.451
in the week and said to him like look i'm coming
00:48:37.451 --> 00:48:40.431
back then like if you're sure to play it like i'll go on the bench like like
00:48:40.431 --> 00:48:43.191
or if someone can't travel just i'm available i'm going
00:48:43.191 --> 00:48:46.271
to be there i'll be available in the group I'm available exactly yeah
00:48:46.271 --> 00:48:50.391
and that's me like I'm always I just always want to play and anyway I thought
00:48:50.391 --> 00:48:53.391
and he went yeah we'll see mate you're in Dubai enjoy it with the kids and all
00:48:53.391 --> 00:48:57.271
that which was fine and I thought no chance there's no chance I'm gonna anyway
00:48:57.271 --> 00:49:01.711
I'm like the third day he's like are you alright for Saturday and I'm like yeah
00:49:01.711 --> 00:49:03.571
definitely three pints deep in a quarter,
00:49:04.071 --> 00:49:09.431
yeah and then yeah I landed back in Manchester I booked a hotel went and had
00:49:09.431 --> 00:49:13.271
sleep that morning I met the team because they landed at like 7 o'clock I met
00:49:13.271 --> 00:49:15.631
the team we had some breakfast and then I went and got a hotel.
00:49:17.076 --> 00:49:20.376
I had to sleep for like three or four hours and then got a taxi to West Didsbury.
00:49:20.496 --> 00:49:23.536
I was on the bench and I played, but it's, yeah, and I go back to,
00:49:23.596 --> 00:49:26.096
I get to the end of the season, I'm thinking, bloody hell, if you would have
00:49:26.096 --> 00:49:31.196
asked me last summer, would you play 44 out of 46 games? Never.
00:49:31.616 --> 00:49:38.556
Like no chance, not like 35, 36 with an ACL injury. Like, but it happened and it.
00:49:38.856 --> 00:49:41.296
That's it. And it was, it was good. Yeah.
00:49:41.676 --> 00:49:45.236
So with that FC squad as well, obviously you've mentioned the change in management
00:49:45.236 --> 00:49:46.456
there because you're obviously in with Batsy.
00:49:47.076 --> 00:49:50.236
And then everything happened with Bassie and Jonesy came in.
00:49:50.616 --> 00:49:54.276
What was that like for you, that little managerial change? Because obviously
00:49:54.276 --> 00:49:57.976
you've been there with Chris through everything. I was out though.
00:49:59.176 --> 00:50:02.076
So that's what I mean. So you were still in the squad, you were still involved,
00:50:02.316 --> 00:50:03.516
but you were on the outside of that.
00:50:03.736 --> 00:50:07.136
So from that, what was that like for you? Because you weren't playing,
00:50:07.616 --> 00:50:09.836
what was that change like? Was it different?
00:50:10.256 --> 00:50:13.876
Yeah. Do you know what? I travelled quite a little. When Bassie was manager,
00:50:14.076 --> 00:50:19.016
I travelled quite a bit. And the team wasn't getting the results And.
00:50:20.380 --> 00:50:23.000
But they were happy. Do you know what I mean? Like they were like,
00:50:23.180 --> 00:50:27.340
they wouldn't, there was talks of like people not being happy and the way Bassey is.
00:50:27.440 --> 00:50:30.220
And like, like he's never going to please everyone. If you know Chris,
00:50:30.320 --> 00:50:31.600
you know, he's never going to please everyone.
00:50:31.880 --> 00:50:34.700
That's just his way of working. Yeah. Cause he's that driven.
00:50:34.740 --> 00:50:36.240
He's that driven, exact straight.
00:50:36.460 --> 00:50:39.220
But I tell you what he is, like he doesn't hold a grudge. No.
00:50:39.320 --> 00:50:43.000
Like, and this is what people like, well, if you could go back to them,
00:50:43.100 --> 00:50:46.820
you need to tell them like, look, like just tell them, like he'll tell you what he thinks.
00:50:47.100 --> 00:50:50.760
You might think he's an absolute clown, an idiot, or you might think he's right,
00:50:50.940 --> 00:50:53.040
but he'll just tell you what he thinks.
00:50:53.440 --> 00:50:56.320
He's picking the team or he's picking this because of that.
00:50:56.820 --> 00:50:58.960
That's it then. And then do you know what? When you walk out the door,
00:50:59.220 --> 00:51:02.560
that conversation's done and dusted and he just moves on. Nothing lingers over him here.
00:51:03.540 --> 00:51:12.480
I always remember with Bassey, we played Laxey, I think, up at Geordie's in a Railway Cup semi.
00:51:13.060 --> 00:51:17.720
We won 2-1 and I scored the first, I think. Anyway, we won 2-1.
00:51:17.900 --> 00:51:21.700
I was in on goal, coming in like towards the club outside from like the roadside
00:51:21.700 --> 00:51:25.040
in on goal callum the square off me i could have squared it to him right but
00:51:25.040 --> 00:51:27.620
you're like in on goal i'm thinking i'm scoring i missed,
00:51:28.160 --> 00:51:30.900
went in the change rooms at the end bearing in mind we won the game we were
00:51:30.900 --> 00:51:34.540
in the final like everyone's buzzing he starts throwing things around chris
00:51:34.540 --> 00:51:38.840
like mental going nuts at me because i didn't pass to callum and i'm like i'm
00:51:38.840 --> 00:51:43.060
not taking this like i'm not like so i'm arguing back with him telling me sure
00:51:43.060 --> 00:51:47.220
he's telling me who do you think you're talking to and then i got in the shower,
00:51:47.460 --> 00:51:48.960
and you can still hear him, like
00:51:48.960 --> 00:51:52.380
he's packing the kit up, and he's still chirping all, but I'm thinking,
00:51:52.740 --> 00:51:56.840
and I was like, are you from real, do you know what I mean, I was just like, fucking, like,
00:51:57.260 --> 00:52:00.920
get over it, I was like, we're one, two, one, but he's that driven, so anyway,
00:52:01.600 --> 00:52:05.940
we've had, like, half-decent words, he's gone into the thing,
00:52:06.000 --> 00:52:09.400
I'm still fuming at this point, I'm like, he's a fucking prick, like, whatever,
00:52:10.020 --> 00:52:13.940
getting changed, walk into the bar, and he stood at the bar,
00:52:14.080 --> 00:52:16.260
and I'm like, working up, and he stood right at the front, I'm thinking,
00:52:16.500 --> 00:52:18.140
he better not say anything now, carrying on in the exercise.
00:52:18.280 --> 00:52:19.340
It was like quite busy in there.
00:52:20.120 --> 00:52:23.540
And he turns around like this, and he goes, do you want a drink, Frank?
00:52:23.980 --> 00:52:26.660
And that was it. It was just like, and I stood there thinking,
00:52:26.940 --> 00:52:30.800
fuming with him, thinking, yeah, go on then, Chris. And then, like, you had a pint?
00:52:31.080 --> 00:52:34.740
You know, and, like, he is literally, like, done and dusted.
00:52:35.740 --> 00:52:41.200
And at that time then, when, like, when he got sacked, yeah,
00:52:41.400 --> 00:52:45.660
I hate saying that word, because at the end of the day, he's not, it's a voluntary role.
00:52:45.980 --> 00:52:50.640
Until you're in there, you don't realise how much time and effort and stress
00:52:50.640 --> 00:52:52.940
and everything else puts on you.
00:52:53.560 --> 00:52:56.160
And then someone says, oh, he's being sacked. And I'm thinking,
00:52:56.340 --> 00:53:01.060
he hasn't been sacked. He's not a paid job. No. He's being asked to step up.
00:53:02.020 --> 00:53:06.460
That's it. And I hate when people say, oh, he got sacked or he's being sacked.
00:53:06.480 --> 00:53:08.200
I'm thinking, he hasn't. It's not a job.
00:53:08.300 --> 00:53:12.360
He's not getting paid. He puts his life and effort into it. And I spoke to him
00:53:12.360 --> 00:53:14.960
the other week about it. And he said, now he's out of it.
00:53:15.080 --> 00:53:19.180
He said, again, they go back to you. When you're in this bubble, you don't see it.
00:53:19.420 --> 00:53:25.100
And he said, like, the way, like, his family, it got affected because it was, like, so much of stress.
00:53:25.260 --> 00:53:28.000
I had him on here with Junior, and he said the same to me. It's,
00:53:28.060 --> 00:53:31.200
like, his relationship with his family is so different now.
00:53:31.420 --> 00:53:33.000
Yeah, it's like his business. Yeah,
00:53:33.100 --> 00:53:36.180
and he just enjoys Saturdays with the grandkids and things like that.
00:53:36.240 --> 00:53:39.780
And he didn't realise until he's out of football how much he'd enjoy it.
00:53:39.940 --> 00:53:43.100
And, like, you go back to it and you go back to, like, it was,
00:53:43.100 --> 00:53:49.580
like, it was a terrible way to end it for him. Do you know what I mean?
00:53:49.860 --> 00:53:52.960
Should have let him go on his own terms kind of thing. What he's done and things
00:53:52.960 --> 00:53:54.980
like that. Do you know what? It's no different...
00:53:55.800 --> 00:53:58.040
I'm sure we'll talk about it. It's no different what's happened to me.
00:53:58.100 --> 00:54:00.000
And that's where I kind of see a bit more now because it's like...
00:54:01.116 --> 00:54:05.856
He was so invested in football and he had been for probably 50 years,
00:54:05.976 --> 00:54:08.116
40 years, whatever, from when he's playing.
00:54:08.396 --> 00:54:11.896
Oh yeah, he's done all the way through. He's up till 2021, was it?
00:54:12.016 --> 00:54:16.356
Yeah, and then it's like someone or the board have just kind of went,
00:54:16.916 --> 00:54:17.996
you're done, see you later.
00:54:18.476 --> 00:54:21.796
And he's there thinking, hang on, like, I'm better than this.
00:54:21.896 --> 00:54:23.336
I don't, like, I don't deserve that.
00:54:23.716 --> 00:54:27.016
Do you know what I mean? So, at that time, like I say, I wasn't,
00:54:27.136 --> 00:54:30.796
but it goes back to that point you made because Chris doesn't actually hold a grudge about it now.
00:54:31.836 --> 00:54:35.476
And it goes back to that point exactly where Chris doesn't hold that grudge.
00:54:35.796 --> 00:54:37.816
He's like, that's been, it's gone, it happened.
00:54:38.236 --> 00:54:40.896
I'm done with that, I've moved on. Yeah, and I think it did,
00:54:40.896 --> 00:54:44.816
for a while, I think it obviously did linger over him and probably linger over
00:54:44.816 --> 00:54:46.896
him a lot more than many things.
00:54:47.056 --> 00:54:53.736
But like you say now, he wants FC to do well. He wants FC to be around.
00:54:55.376 --> 00:55:00.356
He doesn't hold a grudge. And I think at that time, I would have,
00:55:00.396 --> 00:55:03.536
I don't know, it wouldn't have changed anything, but I would have liked to have
00:55:03.536 --> 00:55:06.476
been playing because I think I could have been his voice.
00:55:06.636 --> 00:55:09.396
Yeah. Because I know what he's like. I would have been his captain.
00:55:09.876 --> 00:55:13.676
Like, me and him are, like, at that point, quite similar. Like,
00:55:13.796 --> 00:55:15.616
we want to win. We want to drive.
00:55:15.816 --> 00:55:19.656
We say what it is. Like, I kind of, like, I can just kind of,
00:55:19.756 --> 00:55:20.876
you'll let him think here.
00:55:21.316 --> 00:55:25.736
Yeah. And I think at the time, if the players were not on his side or things like that.
00:55:26.436 --> 00:55:29.276
Like, I don't know. I wasn't in... Fertility could have been...
00:55:29.276 --> 00:55:30.396
Yeah, I was... Do you know what?
00:55:30.456 --> 00:55:33.256
When you're not playing and when you're injured, you're on the outside.
00:55:33.616 --> 00:55:35.956
Like, you're not travelling with the players. You're not training with the players.
00:55:36.116 --> 00:55:37.776
You're not in that clique.
00:55:37.976 --> 00:55:41.696
Even though you're the captain and you're an experienced player.
00:55:42.076 --> 00:55:45.016
Like, we've seen it when they won the league and they got promoted and they won the cup.
00:55:45.216 --> 00:55:48.156
You were there and the captain at the time gave you the trophy.
00:55:48.276 --> 00:55:51.396
Do you know what I mean? Do you know what? I'll always be grateful for Sean for doing that.
00:55:51.516 --> 00:55:52.736
Like, that was... Like, it was
00:55:52.736 --> 00:55:54.596
out of... Like, I didn't know what was happening, do you know what I mean?
00:55:54.656 --> 00:56:00.256
He was just like, yeah, and it's good, but you still don't feel part of it.
00:56:00.436 --> 00:56:03.056
Do you know what I mean? Like, you're on the out, not that you don't feel part
00:56:03.056 --> 00:56:04.176
of it, you're on the outside.
00:56:04.316 --> 00:56:09.756
Yeah. Like, because I'd be so used to being the cactual. You're like, you want to be in. Yeah.
00:56:10.784 --> 00:56:14.704
So then we'll fast forward it. Obviously, now you've talked about your season
00:56:14.704 --> 00:56:16.864
there. We have to talk about what happened last summer.
00:56:18.404 --> 00:56:25.344
Yeah, and how does it come about? So the summer before, I had a conversation
00:56:25.344 --> 00:56:29.844
with Paul about, like I'd done like, let's say three or four months.
00:56:30.104 --> 00:56:33.804
And we had a conversation and he was like, you're going to be the captain this year.
00:56:34.304 --> 00:56:36.704
This is what I expect of you. This is what I want you to do.
00:56:36.784 --> 00:56:37.764
You're obviously getting a bit older.
00:56:37.984 --> 00:56:40.984
This, this and this. and he said he did actually say in
00:56:40.984 --> 00:56:45.064
that conversation he says next year we'll maybe look to move the captaincy on
00:56:45.064 --> 00:56:49.904
because of like an agent trying to like like a transition yeah yeah which is
00:56:49.904 --> 00:56:54.184
fair enough like at a time or whenever like I still feel like I'm the captain
00:56:54.184 --> 00:56:59.824
so I'm like well I want to be captain if I'm around like I'm the captain like I've got leadership,
00:57:01.044 --> 00:57:04.884
like all this kind of stuff but at the end of the day he's the manager isn't
00:57:04.884 --> 00:57:08.484
he so that's kind of it and he kind of led into that so So anyway,
00:57:08.904 --> 00:57:11.944
we get to the summer just gone.
00:57:13.744 --> 00:57:17.224
He rang me or messaged me and said, oh, can we meet for a coffee?
00:57:17.504 --> 00:57:21.724
And he was meeting a few players around at the thing about obviously planning
00:57:21.724 --> 00:57:23.884
for pre-season. So I was like, yeah, no problem.
00:57:24.424 --> 00:57:27.544
I met up with him. And me going down there, I'm thinking, oh,
00:57:27.544 --> 00:57:28.524
he's going to take the captaincy off me.
00:57:28.624 --> 00:57:33.704
And I'm like, oh my God, I don't want to not be captain, but he kind of expected
00:57:33.704 --> 00:57:35.304
it. And I'm like, I'm looking at that.
00:57:35.784 --> 00:57:38.924
I go meet him and not to
00:57:38.924 --> 00:57:42.124
go round of the whole conversation he basically
00:57:42.124 --> 00:57:45.244
says like you're not on my 25 and like
00:57:45.244 --> 00:57:50.724
I was like what like I was like I honestly like I was like really like really
00:57:50.724 --> 00:57:54.764
like what you mean and he was like well what I'm gonna do this year is he says
00:57:54.764 --> 00:57:58.844
I'm gonna name a 25 man squad I'm not kind of having anyone else like this is
00:57:58.844 --> 00:58:05.204
how I'm gonna do it because I think if we keep the circle close with 25 men,
00:58:05.404 --> 00:58:10.104
then I can push for promotion league, do the best with that 25.
00:58:10.704 --> 00:58:15.184
My argument was at the time, like, the last two, three years,
00:58:15.324 --> 00:58:18.564
we've used 40-odd players. Like, how can you do that?
00:58:19.304 --> 00:58:23.304
I also said, like, I'm the most committed player in that team.
00:58:23.504 --> 00:58:25.264
Like, I am the most committed.
00:58:26.204 --> 00:58:30.704
Off the back of that, I also said, like, I know I'm 36,
00:58:31.604 --> 00:58:34.884
like there's kids there like I don't want to be playing in front of them like
00:58:34.884 --> 00:58:39.424
if we've got a strong squad on a Saturday like I'm not in it like and I know
00:58:39.424 --> 00:58:42.304
that and I'm happy with that I know like the likes of Kyle,
00:58:42.904 --> 00:58:46.504
Charlie like Pinney like Earl Emlock like they should be playing ahead of me
00:58:46.504 --> 00:58:50.684
like definitely they're like 18, 19, 20 like teen and when he was here like
00:58:50.684 --> 00:58:53.584
I want you to play mate like I don't need to be there yeah.
00:58:54.734 --> 00:59:00.174
Yeah, he's the manager, isn't he? So he basically just says, like, that's it.
00:59:00.514 --> 00:59:03.234
I'm going to name a 25-man squad and you're not in it.
00:59:03.594 --> 00:59:07.574
And I was like, I kind of said, like, I couldn't.
00:59:08.054 --> 00:59:14.094
What's made it hard is, like, make it make sense. Like, so on a Wednesday night
00:59:14.094 --> 00:59:18.974
when we're traveling away, like, I work for myself.
00:59:19.234 --> 00:59:22.114
Like, you haven't got a squad or you're putting a goalkeeper on the bench,
00:59:22.154 --> 00:59:24.514
like, just to fill numbers. Like, I can do that.
00:59:24.734 --> 00:59:28.414
Like, I still think I've got... You were willing to make that sacrifice still. Definitely.
00:59:28.534 --> 00:59:33.034
And, like, it's not anyone else's kind of thing.
00:59:33.174 --> 00:59:35.634
Like, I've made, like, a lot of sacrifices in football.
00:59:35.794 --> 00:59:38.954
And, like, even with FC, like, going to get my knee done. But that was my choice.
00:59:39.094 --> 00:59:42.334
That was no one else's. And that doesn't make it, oh, yeah, you've got to be
00:59:42.334 --> 00:59:45.094
in the squad because you've done this and done that.
00:59:45.214 --> 00:59:48.094
Like, I still think I had a lot to offer.
00:59:48.614 --> 00:59:53.034
And at the time, I just didn't... Like, when you don't expect something and
00:59:53.034 --> 00:59:59.154
it hits you, it hit me hard and I go back to Bassey it's hit me hard because,
00:59:59.914 --> 01:00:05.674
I love it so much and I want to be in it do you know what I mean and even now that I've.
01:00:06.614 --> 01:00:12.214
I've not been obviously playing let's say six months in with FC like I'm down
01:00:12.214 --> 01:00:15.514
there every Saturday like I want them to win I get on with the lads like the
01:00:15.514 --> 01:00:21.234
lads are going out after the game I'll go out with them and I just the thing that gets me now is like,
01:00:22.114 --> 01:00:25.974
I would love to be involved in it Do you know what I mean? And that's not even playing.
01:00:26.414 --> 01:00:31.594
That was like, do you think if the conversation and the reaction after you were
01:00:31.594 --> 01:00:34.174
told you're not in that squad was a little bit different,
01:00:34.614 --> 01:00:37.814
you'd have probably took on some, if a club had come to you and offered sort
01:00:37.814 --> 01:00:44.174
of like maybe an ambassadorial role or a role even within the coaching set up or something like that.
01:00:44.874 --> 01:00:48.814
Yeah. And do you know what? Looking back at it now, it's easier to say,
01:00:48.954 --> 01:00:51.234
isn't it? Yeah. In the club situation, that could still happen.
01:00:51.354 --> 01:00:55.174
Do you know what I mean? Like anything in the club, like, If something comes
01:00:55.174 --> 01:00:56.154
up in the club, I don't know.
01:00:57.254 --> 01:01:01.734
But I want to be around the players. Like a coach, basically.
01:01:02.974 --> 01:01:05.694
But it just... I don't know.
01:01:05.894 --> 01:01:08.814
I still... It still doesn't make sense now.
01:01:08.954 --> 01:01:14.714
There's obviously... Without thinking, there's an underlying reason for Paul
01:01:14.714 --> 01:01:16.814
to just go. You're not on my 25. See you later.
01:01:17.514 --> 01:01:23.354
No talk of anything else. It's just like, see you later. I'm like, right, okay.
01:01:24.054 --> 01:01:28.874
So, yeah, like, it doesn't make sense to me. It still can't process that.
01:01:29.634 --> 01:01:33.634
Yeah. You've let it kind of go a little bit, but you're still trying to process
01:01:33.634 --> 01:01:35.694
why. Yeah. Does that make sense?
01:01:36.494 --> 01:01:42.394
Yeah. Audibly, yeah, it does. And I've got kind of things why and things like
01:01:42.394 --> 01:01:47.394
that, but what I would have liked to have done is, like, kind of transitioned as in,
01:01:47.494 --> 01:01:50.574
like, in an ideal world, if it was Bassey involved and Bassey said,
01:01:50.614 --> 01:01:52.834
look, you're not going to be in my 25, but...
01:01:53.708 --> 01:01:57.768
But I'm going to have you in, let you train. You might play five games this
01:01:57.768 --> 01:02:00.688
season, but what I want you to do is, like, train, be at training,
01:02:01.208 --> 01:02:04.208
like, but help with the coaching, do a bit of transition, like,
01:02:04.328 --> 01:02:07.028
even be in the coaching team.
01:02:07.448 --> 01:02:11.928
Yeah. Like, because arguably, like, I could go every game.
01:02:12.188 --> 01:02:14.408
Yeah, yeah. Like, I would. Like, because if I'm in on something,
01:02:14.608 --> 01:02:16.288
like I said at the very start, I'm in on something.
01:02:16.408 --> 01:02:20.148
So, like, if you're traveling away on Wednesday, like, and your number two can't,
01:02:20.188 --> 01:02:23.448
like, Gaz can't go, or Albo can't go, or anything like that, I could do it.
01:02:23.448 --> 01:02:26.668
Down the ball I'll go to every game do you know what I mean and.
01:02:27.588 --> 01:02:30.628
The lads will still be there and I still
01:02:30.628 --> 01:02:33.948
want them to win do you know what I mean every Saturday I want them to win against the
01:02:33.948 --> 01:02:36.628
club you want them to succeed because you
01:02:36.628 --> 01:02:40.848
want your children at the end of the day to represent that club yeah and that's
01:02:40.848 --> 01:02:45.768
you know realistically that's what 15 years away yeah well we're always talking
01:02:45.768 --> 01:02:50.588
about this because my boys love Kyle and Charlie and they when we're always
01:02:50.588 --> 01:02:54.188
joking around and like last year when I was playing and they would always say
01:02:54.188 --> 01:02:55.468
like how old I was and things like that.
01:02:56.008 --> 01:03:00.228
And the same age gap between me and Charlie as there is Charlie and my George.
01:03:00.808 --> 01:03:04.568
And I said, George, I said, Charlie, how are you going to feel if you're still playing?
01:03:04.748 --> 01:03:09.408
And George comes in and he obviously at that age when it's like such a young kid.
01:03:09.648 --> 01:03:11.008
I was like, Charlie, that's it
01:03:11.008 --> 01:03:14.708
though, mate. I said, so when you get to my age, he'll be in your place.
01:03:15.328 --> 01:03:18.728
And then, you know, like Charlie's not the best at processing things anyway, is he?
01:03:19.768 --> 01:03:23.648
But that's what it is. And I said, like, the likes of me, Quay,
01:03:23.928 --> 01:03:27.728
Bassey, right? We've all got kids. And I'm like, you'll be playing with them.
01:03:27.928 --> 01:03:32.328
Like, if yous are still around when you're our age, they're going to be... Yeah, yous lot.
01:03:32.868 --> 01:03:35.368
Yeah, and it just frightened me when George comes in the door and says,
01:03:35.448 --> 01:03:37.168
Dad, I'm going to my go-loft with Charlie Higgins.
01:03:38.668 --> 01:03:40.708
I'm going to my go-loft with Charlie Higgins.
01:03:42.288 --> 01:03:45.108
Do you know what I mean? You're robbing up in your circle. Charlie,
01:03:45.228 --> 01:03:47.848
get lost on the way. We went to the Euros with him in the summer.
01:03:48.188 --> 01:03:50.028
And, like, that's what we were laughing about. I was thinking,
01:03:50.328 --> 01:03:52.508
oh my God, like he's gone home and said, I'm going away with Frank.
01:03:52.788 --> 01:03:55.368
I'm like, I don't feel like I'm that much older than him. But you're like,
01:03:55.548 --> 01:03:58.248
oh, they probably look at me and think, well, he's well old him.
01:03:58.828 --> 01:04:01.188
But I'm thinking, imagine if my George come home and said, oh,
01:04:01.228 --> 01:04:02.808
Dan, I'm going to the World Cup. And you're like, all right.
01:04:02.908 --> 01:04:06.528
Oh, yeah, so Nat B, class who are you going with? Well, it's me, Kyle, Charlie.
01:04:06.668 --> 01:04:09.948
I'd be thinking, oh my God. You're going to pass for him. I don't know.
01:04:10.288 --> 01:04:11.528
I've been saying, oh, Kai come.
01:04:12.568 --> 01:04:16.008
Oh, it's mad. Right. So that's your playing days, Frank.
01:04:16.448 --> 01:04:20.008
Got a couple of questions from a few people. Yeah. So we'll go on to them quickly.
01:04:20.308 --> 01:04:23.408
First one's from mate of ours, Martin King, Kinga.
01:04:23.648 --> 01:04:29.108
And he said, you've won everything, no questions asked. I think you kind of answered this before.
01:04:29.508 --> 01:04:35.088
Do you ever think back and think if you stayed at Mary's, you could have won more with your mate?
01:04:36.415 --> 01:04:39.795
Yeah, well, I go back to that team that we had at St.
01:04:39.855 --> 01:04:43.675
Mary's was good, but it would have been nice to win more of them,
01:04:43.675 --> 01:04:45.935
and I go back to the league titles.
01:04:46.635 --> 01:04:50.495
That one, when I come back to St. Mary's, them eight that I won at St.
01:04:50.735 --> 01:04:54.355
George's, that one at St. Mary's was the best I'd done.
01:04:54.755 --> 01:04:58.255
And you think, obviously, everyone always says your first is the best,
01:04:58.375 --> 01:05:00.075
but my last is probably my best.
01:05:00.375 --> 01:05:05.015
I would have, but I just don't think we would have... I don't think we would
01:05:05.015 --> 01:05:09.415
have... No, because there was only a handful of us that was driven enough.
01:05:09.575 --> 01:05:12.795
Like, I seen it at Geordie's when I went there, like... The change in the players.
01:05:12.935 --> 01:05:14.255
There was just, everyone was driven.
01:05:14.415 --> 01:05:18.515
And that thing with Geordie's was, like, and then one or two were just joined every year.
01:05:18.635 --> 01:05:23.795
And then when you've got, like, it's like Man United and Liverpool now.
01:05:23.875 --> 01:05:24.715
Like, you've got Man United now.
01:05:24.795 --> 01:05:29.175
You can sign a good player and he becomes bad now because it's a bad kind of thing.
01:05:29.275 --> 01:05:32.775
And, like, Liverpool are a great team. You bring a player in, he just becomes great.
01:05:32.975 --> 01:05:35.375
And that's what was happening with Geordie's. All he would do is bring him one
01:05:35.375 --> 01:05:38.635
or two in every season. And then one or two would leave because he couldn't,
01:05:38.675 --> 01:05:40.955
like, kind of, like... He didn't want it. Yeah, I remember.
01:05:41.255 --> 01:05:44.055
Obviously, I was at Old Boys at the time. I think Gary Quirk went...
01:05:44.055 --> 01:05:46.715
Yeah, and he... Do you know what? Gary had a couple of seasons,
01:05:46.915 --> 01:05:47.855
didn't he? He had one. One.
01:05:48.015 --> 01:05:50.855
And he scored one of the best goals I've seen in the charity shield.
01:05:51.155 --> 01:05:53.975
And then he had the season. And then at the end of the season,
01:05:54.035 --> 01:05:55.215
he said, boys, thanks very much.
01:05:55.315 --> 01:05:58.275
And he literally said to everyone in the changing... It was in the WhatsApp
01:05:58.275 --> 01:05:59.935
changing... Anyway, Gary said...
01:06:00.910 --> 01:06:03.350
Fair play to you. I can't do that another season. Like, I can't.
01:06:03.410 --> 01:06:06.370
It was green, but I can't do it. Like, it was too intense.
01:06:06.890 --> 01:06:09.110
And then you're thinking, fair play, Gary. Do you know what I mean?
01:06:09.110 --> 01:06:11.510
Like, you've come up, had a proper go on it, and then thought,
01:06:11.630 --> 01:06:15.330
I've had a good time, but, because arguably at the time, and I always say this,
01:06:15.470 --> 01:06:16.730
Geordies, we never had a right winger.
01:06:16.970 --> 01:06:19.670
Never, never. Because everything used to go down the left to Chris.
01:06:20.290 --> 01:06:22.970
Arguably, we didn't need a right winger. But Gary come up at the time,
01:06:23.150 --> 01:06:25.230
probably the best right winger on the Isle of Man. And I'm thinking,
01:06:25.410 --> 01:06:26.650
oh my God, that's our team complete.
01:06:26.790 --> 01:06:29.770
We had Doyle, Connor Doyle come in when he was back from America and played
01:06:29.770 --> 01:06:34.970
there and it was kind of but Gary was unbelievable but when he said that but
01:06:34.970 --> 01:06:37.910
going back to Kinga's thing like I would have loved nothing more to stay and
01:06:37.910 --> 01:06:41.150
like with your mates but it would have been good like if,
01:06:41.650 --> 01:06:45.910
you go back to all them trophies that I won would I swap it for like three or
01:06:45.910 --> 01:06:50.250
four with my mates I don't think I would I think I'd keep what I've got fair
01:06:50.250 --> 01:06:52.670
enough that's fair enough and selfish again you see yeah,
01:06:53.250 --> 01:06:57.970
obviously you touched on Kyle Watson with the SLM and stuff his teammate mate,
01:06:58.250 --> 01:06:59.710
I'll add you to Noel, Sam Baines.
01:07:00.070 --> 01:07:03.510
Yeah. Has Joe Stast, do you think he'll ever score a goal? Because it's soon
01:07:03.510 --> 01:07:04.650
to be 100 and fucking nothing.
01:07:05.430 --> 01:07:08.270
Who, Kyle? Yeah, 100 games, no goals. Oh, yeah.
01:07:08.430 --> 01:07:10.510
Well, I've done that banner. Did you see the banner down the ball I'd done for
01:07:10.510 --> 01:07:13.910
Kyle? And I think he's pushing 100, but because he missed a game or something,
01:07:14.050 --> 01:07:15.510
like it was going to be 100 against Bury.
01:07:15.810 --> 01:07:18.730
Right. Don't think it is. Because I was like, that's the time to score,
01:07:18.870 --> 01:07:21.990
mate. Like 100 and out against Bury. You'd probably retire on that.
01:07:22.470 --> 01:07:26.810
But he should have took the penalty on Saturday. I thought, but honestly,
01:07:26.810 --> 01:07:30.470
Honestly, I think George will probably score before Kyle and he's only six.
01:07:31.950 --> 01:07:33.430
Go to Magaluf with him and then
01:07:33.430 --> 01:07:36.950
score to Kyle and he comes back to the sweater. That's mad. That's mad.
01:07:37.510 --> 01:07:42.150
Next one is from your cousin, Liam Doyle. Oh, right. Okay.
01:07:42.830 --> 01:07:48.670
And he says, ask Frank what happened to the boots in our room in Toulouse.
01:07:49.829 --> 01:07:53.109
R-boot in Toulouse. So I think that must be with Mipha, what's it?
01:07:53.309 --> 01:07:57.989
Yeah, I don't think it was R-boot. It was, this is what he's talking about.
01:07:58.109 --> 01:08:01.609
So Frank Harrison come because he was the kit man at Toulouse, right?
01:08:01.789 --> 01:08:05.409
Somehow he ended up being Mipha's kit man somehow. I don't even know how this happened.
01:08:05.689 --> 01:08:09.709
So he did. Anyway, so he come to Toulouse. I'm sure this was what we must be talking about.
01:08:09.929 --> 01:08:11.209
So he's on about these boots that
01:08:11.209 --> 01:08:13.669
he's got, because it was absolutely freezing. It was like icy as hell.
01:08:13.749 --> 01:08:16.869
He's got these snow boot things. He's telling everyone how good they are.
01:08:16.949 --> 01:08:20.149
And when we get to France, he's going to be unbelievable. he put them on.
01:08:20.829 --> 01:08:24.389
The radiator in the room the electric radiator in the room Frank Harrison did
01:08:24.389 --> 01:08:28.149
melted them right melted all the salts but he didn't know right so he comes
01:08:28.149 --> 01:08:31.549
down in the hotel and it's like quite a nice hotel and he's like Santa Claus
01:08:31.549 --> 01:08:36.269
has been there's like river marks all the way through and he broke past and I was like,
01:08:36.789 --> 01:08:39.109
Harrison and he's like what I saw,
01:08:39.749 --> 01:08:43.709
footprints and he's like and he's twitching and they're like melted mate they're
01:08:43.709 --> 01:08:47.709
literally melted and there's footprints all the way through and he's like tracing
01:08:47.709 --> 01:08:52.509
them back up mate they're in the lift up the stairs back to his room and that's
01:08:52.509 --> 01:08:54.549
what he must be talking about I think because I don't think anything happened,
01:08:55.089 --> 01:09:00.969
with our boots maybe and he asked the second question ask him about the mystery of Gibraltar,
01:09:01.629 --> 01:09:06.549
oh my god that was that was literally one heavy heavy trip away,
01:09:07.049 --> 01:09:11.709
we went to you go back to the Isle of Man we went to Gibraltar Sean Clay got
01:09:11.709 --> 01:09:15.949
a jaw broke outside some club just some fella but you go this is you go back
01:09:15.949 --> 01:09:19.349
to these are the kind of like Like, you know, you go on holiday of the lads.
01:09:19.649 --> 01:09:21.889
Like, that's what it's like. You go, you do your football.
01:09:22.429 --> 01:09:25.069
And then at the end, go and enjoy yourself. Like, you go and enjoy yourself
01:09:25.069 --> 01:09:28.089
and you have a night out. But there's 20 lads, 25 lads having a night out.
01:09:29.109 --> 01:09:34.669
And we got beat on the... This was who it was, to be fair.
01:09:35.089 --> 01:09:37.649
Who it went out in the middle of the week? Just call them out here.
01:09:37.709 --> 01:09:41.729
You can ask them about this. Who it went out in the middle of the week? No one else did.
01:09:42.309 --> 01:09:45.989
Got steaming, come back. And we had all our footy boots all the way across,
01:09:45.989 --> 01:09:50.169
like, the corridor. because he was like, honestly, it was like staying in like the Jerby Hilton.
01:09:50.489 --> 01:09:54.369
It was like, it was on Gibraltar, rock up around the back. It was like the old air barracks.
01:09:54.589 --> 01:09:58.569
So we were in there. It was like, it was rough. So we put all our boots outside
01:09:58.569 --> 01:10:02.809
because like the rooms weren't big and you know, after playing, like stinking.
01:10:03.209 --> 01:10:05.849
Coming back in the morning. So we're playing the next day. Hurtie comes in,
01:10:05.909 --> 01:10:09.109
doesn't he, steaming drunk, throws all the boots over the balcony.
01:10:09.369 --> 01:10:12.429
So they're all in the trees, right? No one's got the boots.
01:10:12.589 --> 01:10:17.309
So like, you don't want to tell Kev because like, honestly, We haven't spoke
01:10:17.309 --> 01:10:21.989
about Kev much, but I didn't play under Kev loads, but he honestly reminded
01:10:21.989 --> 01:10:23.869
me of what he was like a schoolteacher.
01:10:24.449 --> 01:10:27.329
That is one manager I just wouldn't want to talk to. I'm like,
01:10:27.469 --> 01:10:30.689
oh my God, I don't want to talk to him. But then you speak to him outside of
01:10:30.689 --> 01:10:31.929
football. Unbelievable.
01:10:33.109 --> 01:10:36.309
Great man. Proper good. But anyway, that happened on the thing.
01:10:36.469 --> 01:10:42.169
And then on the last night, we went out and it got out of hand and fire extinguishers
01:10:42.169 --> 01:10:44.349
were going off and it got proper out of hand.
01:10:45.229 --> 01:10:49.629
Nero went to bed. We got back to the barracks. The coach was picking us up. We got on the coach.
01:10:50.109 --> 01:10:52.949
And like, Hurtie was like calling us out because he'd be in the bed.
01:10:53.409 --> 01:10:56.889
So then we ended up kind of having a bit of a ding-dong on the coach about like,
01:10:57.429 --> 01:10:59.849
like, I was like, Hurtie, well, you went out on the Wednesday.
01:11:00.169 --> 01:11:03.089
Like, you were steaming on the Wednesday. We couldn't find our boots for the
01:11:03.089 --> 01:11:04.409
first little game because of you.
01:11:04.769 --> 01:11:07.709
I was like, you're going to start having the thing. But Hurtie was just on the
01:11:07.709 --> 01:11:09.929
wind-up and he was, he was just literally on the wind-up.
01:11:10.509 --> 01:11:14.749
And yeah, that was kind of, but that was, That was a lot of trips, mate.
01:11:14.929 --> 01:11:19.149
Like we had some, and you go back to there, the island was unbelievable, the trips away.
01:11:19.469 --> 01:11:23.509
You talk about Frank Harrison being a kit man, another kit man's messaging, Craig Calvin.
01:11:23.929 --> 01:11:28.469
The main kit man. The only kit man. And he said, do you prefer grass or astro
01:11:28.469 --> 01:11:30.549
to... I've never smoked astro turf.
01:11:31.529 --> 01:11:32.809
Is that what you're supposed to say?
01:11:34.449 --> 01:11:39.869
That's mad. Some answer that, isn't it? I'm going to finish it off with a good
01:11:39.869 --> 01:11:41.669
question. I thought, actually, this one.
01:11:42.389 --> 01:11:47.789
Do you think the current... How do you think the current FC Alamance team fare
01:11:47.789 --> 01:11:50.049
against the Geordie side you were part of?
01:11:50.429 --> 01:11:54.709
I don't think it's a fair comparison, in all honesty, just because of the ages
01:11:54.709 --> 01:11:56.869
and how long that Geordie's team were together.
01:11:57.749 --> 01:12:01.149
Yeah. And do you know what? I always say this. I could easily say,
01:12:01.249 --> 01:12:03.269
well, I think the Geordie's team is miles better.
01:12:03.609 --> 01:12:09.569
And I actually do. I think... But if you ask the Peel 70s team,
01:12:09.569 --> 01:12:11.809
well, how would you compare against, like, Geordie's team?
01:12:11.909 --> 01:12:14.409
They'd say, oh, we'd beat them. Yeah, that Jim's team.
01:12:14.649 --> 01:12:16.749
Yeah, Jim's team, like the St Mary's team that won the slam,
01:12:16.909 --> 01:12:18.389
like the Lattie's team that won the Grand Slam.
01:12:18.589 --> 01:12:23.009
Like, everyone's got their own kind of opinion, and it's so hard to...
01:12:23.009 --> 01:12:26.089
You can't compare the generations because football's changed so much as well. Yeah, definitely.
01:12:26.349 --> 01:12:31.489
I do think, what I would say, I do think that Geordie's team would do well in
01:12:31.489 --> 01:12:35.209
this league because all the teams I've seen go up...
01:12:36.010 --> 01:12:39.530
Played like Geordie's did. Not great. Like, you watch FC now.
01:12:39.770 --> 01:12:43.010
Grind out the result. Like, they passed the ball okay.
01:12:43.270 --> 01:12:46.990
They've got a bit of a way of playing. But, like, Geordie's were very,
01:12:46.990 --> 01:12:50.030
like, dynamic. And, like, they had, like, ratty people.
01:12:50.210 --> 01:12:53.790
And, like, they had, like, people like Pekka and Calumet and win your games.
01:12:53.790 --> 01:12:56.690
And it was physical. And we'd get the ball forward.
01:12:56.830 --> 01:12:58.730
And, like, I watched Avril the other year.
01:12:58.910 --> 01:13:01.450
Like, they weren't a great team. But they're so effective. Like,
01:13:01.510 --> 01:13:02.510
look at Wibbenshire last year.
01:13:02.770 --> 01:13:06.050
Like, they'd get the ball forward. Like, Barry do it. They get the ball forward
01:13:06.050 --> 01:13:08.810
and they just try and score goals and they're not bothered about building up
01:13:08.810 --> 01:13:10.450
and looking pretty. They're just like...
01:13:10.950 --> 01:13:14.650
But I think that teams like that are also happy to accept to get beat once in a while.
01:13:15.070 --> 01:13:17.530
Like, look at Bury at the weekend. Bury got beat 4-0 the weekend when I was
01:13:17.530 --> 01:13:21.870
at West Dids. And look in our league, mate. You know, like Liv and Remy play teams like that.
01:13:22.310 --> 01:13:26.130
Who's the other one? Longridge. Like, play great football but just do nothing.
01:13:27.450 --> 01:13:31.350
I watched the Liverpool game, actually, when they played in Liverpool against them.
01:13:31.730 --> 01:13:33.530
It's all been Liverpool and Athletics track. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:13:33.590 --> 01:13:34.830
I've played them. And they don't...
01:13:35.050 --> 01:13:39.530
They have to play a certain way just because of where they are as well.
01:13:39.590 --> 01:13:42.810
It's like the old man's football, isn't it? You know, when you go to air and
01:13:42.810 --> 01:13:44.570
they play with the long throw and the narrow pitch.
01:13:44.790 --> 01:13:47.050
They have to play that way. That's their pitch.
01:13:47.730 --> 01:13:50.650
They're trying to make the way they do it. It's like F. Salman. F.
01:13:50.690 --> 01:13:54.430
Salman have a way of playing that works very well on the bowl as well because
01:13:54.430 --> 01:13:57.210
they want to get as many points as they can at home.
01:13:58.050 --> 01:14:00.350
And then when they go away, they still play the same system,
01:14:00.470 --> 01:14:03.290
but sometimes the pitches are a bit narrower. It's grassy. It's bobbly.
01:14:03.290 --> 01:14:05.490
And that system doesn't come into it as much.
01:14:05.630 --> 01:14:10.150
I do think they need, like, FC Aleman, like, they need to, I don't know,
01:14:10.250 --> 01:14:12.270
they need, like, I think they need to be fair.
01:14:12.650 --> 01:14:16.130
Like, I said this last year, and it's a whole different story.
01:14:16.450 --> 01:14:19.350
Like, I said this last year, we went running for a bit last year and,
01:14:19.450 --> 01:14:21.570
like, it brought us together.
01:14:21.790 --> 01:14:26.410
Like, I think the hardest thing with FC Aleman is, like, I've been in there,
01:14:26.430 --> 01:14:29.430
I know how hard it is, I know, like, and you go back to, like,
01:14:29.450 --> 01:14:33.730
Paul Jones, the manager, I know how hard it is. I understand it.
01:14:35.687 --> 01:14:38.787
The thing that you don't get in there is you don't get the social side because
01:14:38.787 --> 01:14:41.727
the game's on a Saturday at six o'clock like you can't
01:14:41.727 --> 01:14:44.547
go to the pub afterwards like not even it's not even about having a pint
01:14:44.547 --> 01:14:48.347
it's just being together so you can't because it's like nine o'clock ten o'clock
01:14:48.347 --> 01:14:52.507
you go away like you play every single Saturday so you don't get your free weeks
01:14:52.507 --> 01:14:55.647
like you go away in the week and you're just back and back into work and the
01:14:55.647 --> 01:14:59.487
only time you kind of get to see someone's like at training and that there is
01:14:59.487 --> 01:15:02.907
like you're bringing lads in they're not friends are They're not like,
01:15:03.327 --> 01:15:06.607
I wouldn't say half of them are going around someone else's house tonight for
01:15:06.607 --> 01:15:09.087
a brew to watch the footy. They're not doing that.
01:15:09.447 --> 01:15:13.867
So you've got to try and get that togetherness. And okay, you can get out of training. You can.
01:15:14.047 --> 01:15:20.227
But I think we've done four or five sessions down the steps last year when we were in a bad spell.
01:15:20.307 --> 01:15:24.447
And we come out of it and it was like, let's be real. We did not get fit over
01:15:24.447 --> 01:15:25.587
five sessions down the steps.
01:15:25.707 --> 01:15:29.027
We didn't. But you got together. What have we got? And people were dying.
01:15:29.827 --> 01:15:33.707
I watched Ben, the goalkeeper, Wilkinson. He come down the first street,
01:15:33.787 --> 01:15:37.427
he's like, oh, we ran down. He was like, but people are down there like, yeah, go on, Ben.
01:15:38.927 --> 01:15:42.767
And three weeks later, he's doing it. Involved with it.
01:15:43.027 --> 01:15:45.387
Everyone's feeling involved and everyone's pushing. He doesn't want to miss
01:15:45.387 --> 01:15:48.027
out. Yeah, and that's that.
01:15:48.087 --> 01:15:53.647
But going back to that question, I think the Georgia's team did suit that league
01:15:53.647 --> 01:15:55.747
that they're in. They would do really well in that league.
01:15:55.967 --> 01:15:58.307
Yeah, just because of the grit. So we'll move on.
01:15:58.807 --> 01:16:01.307
Quick one what do you like about Mines Football at the minute.
01:16:02.928 --> 01:16:05.868
And so, like, I've been out of it, haven't I? And then I've come back in from things.
01:16:06.008 --> 01:16:09.128
So it's, like, what I've always liked with Manx football, and,
01:16:09.248 --> 01:16:11.148
like, this is, like, a credit to you.
01:16:11.608 --> 01:16:16.088
Like, the likes of Gary Waitman. Like, I think the publicity side of it and
01:16:16.088 --> 01:16:21.548
the kind of coverage side of it is, like, is so good. And it always has been
01:16:21.548 --> 01:16:23.188
good. And you've obviously upped it again.
01:16:23.948 --> 01:16:26.728
Gary, like, the papers, like, met them and all.
01:16:27.168 --> 01:16:30.848
This kind of lot. I think the coverage around it all is, like, fantastic.
01:16:30.848 --> 01:16:35.008
And I also think with playing with FC and going away and seeing like.
01:16:35.488 --> 01:16:38.688
Some of the state of the ground and something like that like I
01:16:38.688 --> 01:16:41.448
think the facilities okay they could maybe do with
01:16:41.448 --> 01:16:45.128
like a little bit of an upkeep here there but the actual like facilities across
01:16:45.128 --> 01:16:49.788
the whole border of the Isle of Man are unbelievable I remember that first game
01:16:49.788 --> 01:16:52.428
like you're going away you're in the English League it's main road we're all
01:16:52.428 --> 01:16:56.008
travelling it's like great got up there it was the worst change rooms I've ever
01:16:56.008 --> 01:16:59.688
been in my life it was like a shed like I was thinking is this it?
01:16:59.848 --> 01:17:04.048
I was like me thinking but like and you're thinking they're playing at that
01:17:04.048 --> 01:17:07.388
level which is above the level you're going to be at in Man's Football I think
01:17:07.388 --> 01:17:11.328
was it three steps above Man's Football yes and I and I think like
01:17:11.728 --> 01:17:15.688
that's that's good and one of the other big things is like for me to see like
01:17:15.688 --> 01:17:22.328
obviously FC's you could say the big players out of the league but also now
01:17:22.328 --> 01:17:26.768
you're seeing like young kids and you're seeing other like the likes of even
01:17:26.768 --> 01:17:31.388
like Luke Booth who's like kind of like he's had a chance like when we went back that year
01:17:31.828 --> 01:17:34.488
you were probably there he was the combi striker in that
01:17:34.488 --> 01:17:37.588
St Mary's team when we won the league the first year I went back we won the
01:17:37.588 --> 01:17:40.888
league that year he was like the combi striker but you see like he's gone to
01:17:40.888 --> 01:17:45.128
like Mills done really well like he's kind of put him to the top a little bit
01:17:45.128 --> 01:17:49.188
because of like let's say the likes of Sean Doyle who's your striker like he's
01:17:49.188 --> 01:17:53.968
in with FC he's made a kind of scoring goal got his chance hasn't he so like.
01:17:54.889 --> 01:17:58.509
That's good about it. Like, young Browner. I don't really know Browner.
01:17:58.589 --> 01:18:01.889
I don't know him, but you hear all you hear. I've watched a rail of reviews
01:18:01.889 --> 01:18:03.029
about him. Do you know what?
01:18:03.349 --> 01:18:06.309
I want to watch him because you hear so much about him. He's been,
01:18:06.589 --> 01:18:10.849
like, I watched him the first time. He got beat at, Corinthians beat them at Peel.
01:18:11.149 --> 01:18:14.309
He scored the best goal I've seen this year because he picked the ball up on
01:18:14.309 --> 01:18:16.889
the halfway line on the right-hand side.
01:18:17.309 --> 01:18:21.669
He's gone down. He's gone through the hole. He's gone through three midfielders.
01:18:22.129 --> 01:18:25.169
Basically turned the inside of Corinthians' defence inside out and fired at
01:18:25.169 --> 01:18:27.529
home and it's a fantastic goal and he's done it all on his own.
01:18:27.809 --> 01:18:31.069
This is at 1-0 down. He's brought it back and then they obviously conceded.
01:18:31.269 --> 01:18:35.669
And I watched him play at Corinthians again in the Cup when Peele come back
01:18:35.669 --> 01:18:39.309
and they would, you know, come back to win it. 4-3 in the end.
01:18:39.849 --> 01:18:43.829
And again, him. But then, like, there's other lads in there now.
01:18:43.929 --> 01:18:46.909
You look at, like, some of the people, like, I think the one I like is Jason
01:18:46.909 --> 01:18:49.749
Chalmers at Foxdale. Yeah. Young lad, plays on a wing.
01:18:50.169 --> 01:18:54.189
You know, last year he was doing bits in Div 2 and people thought, is he actually, is he?
01:18:54.429 --> 01:18:57.269
And now people are saying, oh, he's playing with Gaylor and he...
01:18:57.269 --> 01:18:59.669
Now, because Gaylor's obviously going, Fox, different kettle of fish again,
01:18:59.869 --> 01:19:01.169
mate. Yeah. Different kettle of fish.
01:19:01.649 --> 01:19:04.749
And that's like a good thing for it, isn't it? Yeah. It's given,
01:19:05.069 --> 01:19:09.389
like, okay, your best players, you could say, like... It's made...
01:19:09.389 --> 01:19:11.929
I think now starting to see...
01:19:12.632 --> 01:19:16.112
The league come together after FC Isleman. So you've had that couple of years
01:19:16.112 --> 01:19:19.532
where the quality was the best. Yeah, it was just the mess, wasn't it?
01:19:19.912 --> 01:19:23.412
But now it's sorted itself out. And it's, you know, look at Peel and Air last
01:19:23.412 --> 01:19:25.812
year, having a good run, Peel and Air this year.
01:19:25.952 --> 01:19:28.772
But then, like, who thought Foxtel, who'd just been promoted,
01:19:29.032 --> 01:19:32.932
would be in a sniff for a railway cup? You know, Laxie have snuck into it.
01:19:32.992 --> 01:19:36.912
Corinthians have come back from, they lost three quarters of their squad to
01:19:36.912 --> 01:19:38.272
FC Isleman at one point. Yeah, yeah.
01:19:38.432 --> 01:19:42.272
Do you know what I mean? It's coming there, so that's it. so what do you think
01:19:42.272 --> 01:19:44.552
is not so good about Manx football at the minute?
01:19:45.992 --> 01:19:50.872
The easiest thing to say is numbers isn't it? Yeah But it's no,
01:19:51.872 --> 01:19:54.612
that's no easy fix is it I don't know
01:19:54.612 --> 01:19:57.372
the right answer to that so it's easy to sit on
01:19:57.372 --> 01:20:00.052
the outside and go oh well you need to do this and you need to do
01:20:00.052 --> 01:20:02.952
that and again it's that old thing of like well someone needs to
01:20:02.952 --> 01:20:05.912
do something someone needs to like what's happening
01:20:05.912 --> 01:20:09.132
like where's it breaking down and hopefully the FA are inside
01:20:09.132 --> 01:20:11.912
like thinking about like things to try and fix it
01:20:11.912 --> 01:20:15.212
and because there's there's a transition where i
01:20:15.212 --> 01:20:18.572
look like you look at junior football like how many people are playing junior
01:20:18.572 --> 01:20:23.432
football but you lose don't you from that junior men's oh junior to men's football
01:20:23.432 --> 01:20:26.712
i think they drop off something silly like 60 or something yeah which is like
01:20:26.712 --> 01:20:31.132
horrendous isn't it it's like that's what like 85 it's like so if you're retaining
01:20:31.132 --> 01:20:34.852
40 or 15 how are you ever going to grow your senior game.
01:20:35.892 --> 01:20:39.192
Yeah, and I don't know... No one knows the answer to it.
01:20:39.612 --> 01:20:42.732
No, did we change the league system? I don't think it's an easy answer because
01:20:42.732 --> 01:20:47.192
I think what happens is, and like you say, you lose them teams because let's
01:20:47.192 --> 01:20:49.912
say, I see Onken now because I go back to the kids.
01:20:50.272 --> 01:20:53.832
So I see Onken and you see their setup and you've got three or four age groups
01:20:53.832 --> 01:20:56.072
or three or four teams in them age groups, right?
01:20:56.392 --> 01:20:59.792
And you could say like, well, I'll tell you what, like some areas haven't got
01:20:59.792 --> 01:21:03.212
any, like some areas haven't got an under sevens. So we'll have...
01:21:04.071 --> 01:21:07.151
Like your B team, right? But them kids might not want to play for St Mary's. No.
01:21:07.371 --> 01:21:09.591
Like, they might live in Honkin, and they haven't got, like,
01:21:09.671 --> 01:21:12.911
I'm not going to St Mary's. Like, I want to just be here, and that's it.
01:21:13.011 --> 01:21:16.831
So that there, like, it's not an easy fix, that, is it? No.
01:21:17.091 --> 01:21:20.071
Like, and like, Laxie have got a good set-up. Union Mills have, Drimfians have.
01:21:20.291 --> 01:21:26.371
Like, and I think a lot of teams, like Peel have, a lot of teams have got the set-up.
01:21:27.071 --> 01:21:30.111
They've got the players in there in the set-up, but it's hard to get them players
01:21:30.111 --> 01:21:33.011
into senior football potentially going to other clubs, because there's only
01:21:33.011 --> 01:21:35.231
so many players. And I think that's the problem.
01:21:36.151 --> 01:21:40.631
Unless every single team on the island has a junior set up, so then you can
01:21:40.631 --> 01:21:42.551
just keep filtering them in, you wouldn't lose as much.
01:21:42.691 --> 01:21:46.551
But when you've got, let's say, out of the... Is there 20 clubs? How many clubs?
01:21:47.471 --> 01:21:51.711
25. Right, so let's say there's 26 clubs, 27 with FC Ireland.
01:21:51.951 --> 01:21:54.931
Right, okay. So let's say there's 25 or 26 clubs.
01:21:55.731 --> 01:21:59.111
How many of them have got junior set ups? Well, I think that's the way, isn't it?
01:21:59.191 --> 01:22:02.971
I think someone said to me, I can't remember who it was, if I can put my name
01:22:02.971 --> 01:22:04.331
on it, and I can remember it.
01:22:04.571 --> 01:22:08.111
Someone said, you shouldn't be able to have a senior team unless you've got one junior team.
01:22:08.411 --> 01:22:14.511
Even if it's just, you can get 10 under 13 lads that your kids mate that don't
01:22:14.511 --> 01:22:17.691
really play, but they've got a junior team in the league, then at least you've
01:22:17.691 --> 01:22:19.791
got some sort of sustainability there to come through.
01:22:20.071 --> 01:22:22.851
And I think that's the only way you'll get the numbers because you need them
01:22:22.851 --> 01:22:24.971
lads at that club so then they've got an involvement in that club.
01:22:25.091 --> 01:22:30.211
Because if, let's say, like, you're at Honkin, you're at Old Boys,
01:22:30.371 --> 01:22:33.771
like, you come through that set up, nine times out of ten, you want to play,
01:22:33.891 --> 01:22:37.231
but what's happening is they want to play for old boys because they've been here all their life.
01:22:37.471 --> 01:22:40.151
They're not good enough to get in the first team at that point because you're
01:22:40.151 --> 01:22:42.531
in, let's say, there's three teams coming through.
01:22:42.731 --> 01:22:47.411
You're not good enough, and you just walk away then because they don't probably know anyone outside.
01:22:47.851 --> 01:22:52.411
You might get, let's say you're 20, old boys take 10, so 10 are leaving.
01:22:52.911 --> 01:22:57.191
Five might go somewhere else, and five are losing, but if that's happening every
01:22:57.191 --> 01:23:01.071
single call, every single year, there's far too many players leaving the game, isn't there?
01:23:01.251 --> 01:23:05.251
Yeah. But I don't know how to fix it. I wouldn't even know where to start with it.
01:23:05.371 --> 01:23:09.291
So it's easy sitting here saying, well, that needs fixed. But how do you fix
01:23:09.291 --> 01:23:10.131
it? It's a different answer.
01:23:10.511 --> 01:23:12.671
So we'll start to wrap this up, mate.
01:23:13.111 --> 01:23:16.851
We'll go on to your select seven. So this is your seven-a-side team,
01:23:16.931 --> 01:23:19.331
right? Told you the rules. You know the rules anyways.
01:23:20.151 --> 01:23:23.711
Goalkeeper can be anyone. It can be retired or playing still.
01:23:24.111 --> 01:23:27.691
It needs to have three current players in it and three retired players.
01:23:28.411 --> 01:23:30.751
So I'm going to start with the goalkeeper.
01:23:31.771 --> 01:23:34.791
This is kind of a no-brainer for me. I played with him as a kid all the way
01:23:34.791 --> 01:23:39.591
through, and then he was really good as Max Thomas.
01:23:39.851 --> 01:23:45.171
And he's one of them people you want round because his energy off the pitch
01:23:45.171 --> 01:23:46.991
and everything about him.
01:23:47.571 --> 01:23:51.431
Even if you go down as Jim now, I'll plug that for him down south.
01:23:52.747 --> 01:23:56.427
Everyone says the same thing about him. You want him to coach it because he's like, he's so beat.
01:23:56.547 --> 01:23:58.687
He's like such a nice fella. You go out for a pint with him,
01:23:58.787 --> 01:24:00.667
he's like always like nothing. He's always bouncing off.
01:24:00.767 --> 01:24:04.247
Always like nothing's like low with him. It's like good and like he's a great
01:24:04.247 --> 01:24:05.927
goalkeeper. And I played all the way through St.
01:24:06.027 --> 01:24:09.147
Mary's with him and then he just kind of stopped playing all of a sudden.
01:24:09.347 --> 01:24:13.467
Like that was him. He was just like, I'm done with it. Job done. Yeah. So I'd have Max.
01:24:14.147 --> 01:24:17.667
Who's your first current player then? Still playing now.
01:24:18.287 --> 01:24:21.127
Jack McVay. It's not a bad show. It's got to be.
01:24:21.127 --> 01:24:28.227
Like he's yeah he's yeah he's great like what he does like he's unbelievable,
01:24:28.727 --> 01:24:33.267
like he's the most half-assed great footballer you'll ever find yeah and do
01:24:33.267 --> 01:24:37.127
you know what he's like in the FCE team yeah he's in the FCE team and like I
01:24:37.127 --> 01:24:40.247
was saying to him are you not balling or you're not playing nah I'm alright
01:24:40.247 --> 01:24:42.507
like and then when he's asked to play you're playing and he'll,
01:24:43.047 --> 01:24:47.607
give you an A every single time he plays like he's he doesn't really put a foot
01:24:47.607 --> 01:24:51.007
wrong yeah it doesn't he might not look like he's putting an effort in but he
01:24:51.007 --> 01:24:55.107
doesn't need to because he's that far ahead in his head of what's going to happen. Yeah.
01:24:55.907 --> 01:24:59.407
He's already two steps ahead of you thinking what he's doing. Yeah. And he is.
01:25:00.107 --> 01:25:05.287
He's, yeah. He is that. He is that good. So, who is your first retired player?
01:25:05.887 --> 01:25:10.147
So, I would arguably say the same kind of, like, thing as Jack is at Myers.
01:25:10.867 --> 01:25:15.367
Like, I'd have to have... Well, no. Is Myers retired? Let me just think now of my three.
01:25:15.967 --> 01:25:19.267
I've given Myers away now anyway, haven't I? I'm trying to think of my...
01:25:19.267 --> 01:25:21.287
Well, just let you continue with Johnny for now.
01:25:21.947 --> 01:25:25.067
Yeah, so Johnny's actually one of my still playing. Right.
01:25:25.367 --> 01:25:27.767
Sorry, Johnny's still one of my ones that's still playing. But yeah,
01:25:28.047 --> 01:25:29.567
I'd have Johnny in. He's the same as Jack.
01:25:29.727 --> 01:25:35.667
Like, when I went to Geordie, he's like, he's, you wouldn't believe the grit Myers has got.
01:25:36.027 --> 01:25:40.687
Like, you can say, and he would say it himself, like, he's overweight,
01:25:40.687 --> 01:25:44.607
but we'd be doing like the fireman's run and he's doing it, like,
01:25:44.767 --> 01:25:47.947
even though he's like mid-pack or towards back, he's doing it.
01:25:48.007 --> 01:25:50.687
And I'm thinking, and he has got some grit on him.
01:25:51.087 --> 01:25:54.507
And he's obviously had injuries, but he just plays through them.
01:25:54.927 --> 01:25:59.727
He loves his football, and again, he's like Jack. He's four steps ahead of everyone.
01:26:00.227 --> 01:26:03.707
You think you'd... I played him on the bowl a couple of times when I played
01:26:03.707 --> 01:26:05.947
against him, and you're thinking, well, I'll just run past him.
01:26:06.067 --> 01:26:07.267
And there's absolutely no chance.
01:26:07.427 --> 01:26:11.547
He gets his arm across, he just as quick as you, across a short thing.
01:26:11.667 --> 01:26:13.727
He's like... You're not going to beat him in the air, right?
01:26:13.787 --> 01:26:14.627
Not going to beat him in the air.
01:26:14.667 --> 01:26:18.247
You're not going to beat him in a tackle. And then when he's actually born at
01:26:18.247 --> 01:26:20.567
the ground, he's unbelievable, isn't he? Yeah.
01:26:21.113 --> 01:26:25.293
And he's going to be a dad soon as well. Yeah. I wonder if he'll be retiring after that.
01:26:25.613 --> 01:26:27.893
No chance. That makes you want to get out of the house more.
01:26:28.253 --> 01:26:29.793
Never know, Johnny, never know.
01:26:30.213 --> 01:26:34.273
So, right, so we've done two of you. We'll just do your last current player as well.
01:26:34.813 --> 01:26:36.993
So it'll have to be Junior.
01:26:37.953 --> 01:26:42.993
Like, yeah, like, you go back to he's won absolutely everything, hasn't he?
01:26:43.493 --> 01:26:46.793
Like, literally everything across the board.
01:26:46.953 --> 01:26:51.053
I did listen to your thing, and I always laugh about it because it's one thing
01:26:51.053 --> 01:26:55.993
that he, and he said it on your podcast about not going to the Island Games. Yeah.
01:26:56.253 --> 01:26:59.253
And that was the thing I go back to. Like, I'd go to everything.
01:26:59.413 --> 01:27:03.513
Like, we had Cyprus with Mifet and like two weeks later, we had the Island Games
01:27:03.513 --> 01:27:08.213
in Gotland and he had to choose between the two of them because of work,
01:27:08.233 --> 01:27:10.673
I think, or some commitments or whatever.
01:27:10.953 --> 01:27:14.933
And he ended up going to Cyprus and Cyprus was class. We Malcolm again flew
01:27:14.933 --> 01:27:18.153
us. We had a five-star hotel, like Northern Cyprus, like unbelievable.
01:27:18.673 --> 01:27:22.633
But I know Chris will always look back and think should have gone the R game
01:27:22.633 --> 01:27:26.373
yeah because that's one thing that he's won everything hasn't he literally and
01:27:26.373 --> 01:27:29.973
it's that cap isn't it he wants as well yeah he's after them isn't he and do
01:27:29.973 --> 01:27:32.613
you know what there's five caps there he's probably broke the record if he would
01:27:32.613 --> 01:27:34.873
have went to that because he would have played in every game there's another
01:27:34.873 --> 01:27:38.533
five caps that he's missed out on I think he's back in the island set up though still yeah,
01:27:39.093 --> 01:27:42.893
he will break it won't he he's chasing it like mad I think is he two away or
01:27:42.893 --> 01:27:46.973
one away he's not far but he wants it doesn't he he's not going to quit until
01:27:46.973 --> 01:27:50.033
he gets out he like he'll arrange a friendly for the Isle of I don't know just
01:27:50.033 --> 01:27:52.193
like you walk on walk off and go right I've done it.
01:27:53.773 --> 01:27:56.093
The thing is now you go back to it's like it's it,
01:27:56.672 --> 01:27:59.912
a record that he wants, or it's a record that you'd want, like anyone would
01:27:59.912 --> 01:28:02.792
want, because the Allemans team aren't playing many games now.
01:28:02.892 --> 01:28:05.952
So who's going to get 90 caps to the Allemans? No one's going to catch them.
01:28:06.352 --> 01:28:07.552
Who's ever going to do that? No.
01:28:08.172 --> 01:28:11.652
Especially now, because there's not many games. And that's, you know,
01:28:11.812 --> 01:28:13.252
that's not Blaine's fault as a manager.
01:28:13.632 --> 01:28:16.612
It's not anyone's fault. It's the SA fault. It's just money.
01:28:16.852 --> 01:28:18.012
Money. It comes out of money.
01:28:18.452 --> 01:28:22.592
And the availability isn't there. So we're going to your first retired player.
01:28:23.272 --> 01:28:27.632
Right, so I'm saying this because the best season I had at St.
01:28:27.732 --> 01:28:34.032
George's, he played alongside me and he was literally unbelievable and he'd
01:28:34.032 --> 01:28:39.252
done everything for me to make me be unbelievable was Brogy.
01:28:39.912 --> 01:28:43.192
Like, what an engine. Oh, like, he was so good.
01:28:43.292 --> 01:28:47.032
He played in, like, centre midfield and he just kind of covered everything so
01:28:47.032 --> 01:28:49.432
I could just audibly run around like a headless chicken.
01:28:49.612 --> 01:28:55.432
And that's what I was good at. I got across the pitch, but he covered everything.
01:28:55.692 --> 01:28:57.992
He was that good player.
01:28:58.492 --> 01:29:02.592
He just stayed in the middle and just kind of covered. I was off running over
01:29:02.592 --> 01:29:04.792
here and running over there and running forward and running back.
01:29:05.172 --> 01:29:07.732
He was probably looking at me thinking, what is this idiot doing?
01:29:08.092 --> 01:29:12.452
Because he was professionally good and he's really good on the ball.
01:29:13.232 --> 01:29:17.272
And that year, he actually won our own player of the year that year.
01:29:17.532 --> 01:29:20.392
And I actually thought I should have won it.
01:29:20.892 --> 01:29:24.372
It's one thing I've never won and like it's one thing that I'll go back to like
01:29:24.372 --> 01:29:25.232
Christopher's gold medal,
01:29:25.932 --> 01:29:28.952
like yeah I'll give him my gold medal give me one of them rose balls that he's
01:29:28.952 --> 01:29:32.872
got he's got like four of them but that's one thing I never won and I'm like
01:29:32.872 --> 01:29:37.912
and that year we won we won three out of the four trophies I scored,
01:29:39.692 --> 01:29:44.472
32 goals I scored a hat-trick in the Railway Cup final and a hat-trick in the
01:29:44.472 --> 01:29:49.032
Hospital Cup final and I thought I've got to win it like I've got to win it
01:29:49.032 --> 01:29:52.512
I was like literally I scored so many goals and I had two men in the matches.
01:29:53.192 --> 01:29:57.092
Yeah, and Brogy won it. But do you know what? Looking back now.
01:29:57.212 --> 01:30:01.532
Yeah, looking back now, I probably wouldn't have been as good as I was if he
01:30:01.532 --> 01:30:02.952
wasn't there. Yeah, 100%.
01:30:03.592 --> 01:30:05.132
So who's your next retired player?
01:30:07.172 --> 01:30:11.512
So it would be Callum. I'd have to have Callum in there.
01:30:11.672 --> 01:30:16.232
He was my main kind of, not draw to Geordie's, but I just looked at him and
01:30:16.232 --> 01:30:19.792
he's got this aura about Callum. As in, like...
01:30:21.186 --> 01:30:24.226
He just, he ruins, doesn't he? He's like quite cocky.
01:30:24.366 --> 01:30:27.346
He's quite good, but he does back it up. And he was like so good.
01:30:27.546 --> 01:30:29.206
Some of the things that he would do, but he would.
01:30:29.966 --> 01:30:34.766
I remember I was at Hospital Cup final. Might be in a hospital where he scored that volley.
01:30:35.126 --> 01:30:38.206
The turn on the volley. Like against Sam Alder. Yeah. Yeah, like.
01:30:38.406 --> 01:30:42.846
That was just ridiculous. Was he inside his own half? We, yeah. On a full volley.
01:30:43.426 --> 01:30:46.546
And Hattie misses it, doesn't he? Hattie's got it on camera and Callum's still
01:30:46.546 --> 01:30:49.706
fuming about it now. As he hits it, he sees Callum hit it, but he doesn't follow the ball.
01:30:49.966 --> 01:30:52.286
And then next thing it's in the net. And it's just like, it's like,
01:30:52.746 --> 01:30:56.346
how is he doing it? He's meant it. He's 100% meant it as well. It's come from Perry.
01:30:56.506 --> 01:30:59.666
Perry's kicked it out. And Callum, half on the turns, has come over his shoulder
01:30:59.666 --> 01:31:00.886
and just volleyed it straight in.
01:31:01.126 --> 01:31:04.726
Yeah. And you're like, we were getting beat, just talking about Callum quick.
01:31:04.846 --> 01:31:09.306
We were getting beat by Union Mills in the FA Cup, I think. They were in the second division.
01:31:09.606 --> 01:31:13.686
They were 3-0 up after 20 minutes. Yes. We're raging. Bassie's obviously losing
01:31:13.686 --> 01:31:14.926
his shit. Dick was losing his shit.
01:31:15.866 --> 01:31:18.806
Callum's arguably, like, just outstand the ball on it. Yeah.
01:31:19.046 --> 01:31:22.526
And it was the young lad. AJ Soplin yeah and he scored two and everyone was
01:31:22.526 --> 01:31:26.306
raving about him at the time Callum come back he got the ball and I was like
01:31:26.306 --> 01:31:28.966
obviously sending me it feels right to be here Callum put the ball on the spot
01:31:29.346 --> 01:31:31.706
and he had his head down he went boys listen
01:31:32.146 --> 01:31:36.206
don't worry if we're 3-0 at half time we'll be alright and I'm looking I'm thinking
01:31:36.206 --> 01:31:40.606
Callum there's 25 minutes gone we're getting beat 3-0 and you're thinking there's going to be 3-0,
01:31:41.066 --> 01:31:45.786
sat in the changing room at half time it was 3-3 he scored a hat-trick and I'm like,
01:31:46.646 --> 01:31:50.926
going back to sorry just quick with Callum he rang me up when we went to Cyprus,
01:31:51.126 --> 01:31:54.446
I don't think he'd come to Cyprus, he ran me up between Cyprus and Vink and
01:31:54.446 --> 01:31:57.346
he said to me, it wasn't before Cyprus, it must have been before Cyprus,
01:31:57.466 --> 01:32:00.986
he ran me up and said, mate, I said, yeah, he goes, get to Gotland.
01:32:01.186 --> 01:32:04.506
I said, what do you mean? He says, get to Gotland, we're winning gold.
01:32:05.366 --> 01:32:09.786
I'm like, we still laugh about it now because he scored in like the 93rd minute against, um.
01:32:10.833 --> 01:32:14.393
Against Guernsey in the semi-final to win that. And then we're out,
01:32:14.713 --> 01:32:16.833
the night out, obviously we've got our gold medals and all that.
01:32:16.953 --> 01:32:21.733
And I always remember walking to a bar, Callum smoking, I think it was a cigar, right?
01:32:21.853 --> 01:32:26.173
As Callum, big smoking cigar out there. And he just shouts to me, hey Jones.
01:32:26.433 --> 01:32:30.213
And he pulls his gold medal like that. Just puts the cigar on him like this.
01:32:30.753 --> 01:32:35.393
And I'm like, Callum just like... But that was him.
01:32:36.053 --> 01:32:40.713
Yeah, he'd have to be on my team. He was such a, like, for all his other entities,
01:32:40.833 --> 01:32:44.693
He was great to have around the team because of all his antics.
01:32:45.473 --> 01:32:49.493
He'd bring everyone together and he's always in for a lot. But his football,
01:32:49.553 --> 01:32:53.193
he was unbelievable. Final person. Final retired player.
01:32:55.393 --> 01:32:59.993
Steedo. I was like, him and Hart. Do you know what? You look at this and there's
01:32:59.993 --> 01:33:01.593
so many players that I could be.
01:33:03.393 --> 01:33:06.173
And Steedo is just... Goal machine.
01:33:06.573 --> 01:33:09.773
Yeah, just natural park player. like
01:33:09.773 --> 01:33:12.613
just like how many goals he scored he
01:33:12.613 --> 01:33:15.593
played for St Mary's all them years and scored obviously went to Geordie's and had
01:33:15.593 --> 01:33:18.453
a couple of good seasons or a season up there and then he come back
01:33:18.453 --> 01:33:21.493
and like are you just watching coming on that kind
01:33:21.493 --> 01:33:24.253
of side or like either side of the wing and you just cut in and just like
01:33:24.253 --> 01:33:26.893
whip it and you think and how's he doing that like everyone knows what he does
01:33:26.893 --> 01:33:31.913
and he still manages to do it and he's like he's done it for such a long but
01:33:31.913 --> 01:33:37.273
there's obviously yeah I don't know you can start I can name another 20 players
01:33:37.273 --> 01:33:40.573
do you know what I mean yeah it's one of them that's what's here I think it's
01:33:40.573 --> 01:33:42.613
probably a stupid question to ask but who manages it?
01:33:43.393 --> 01:33:49.473
Senior? Yeah. It'd have to be just yeah definitely. So I thought that'd be the answer but no.
01:33:50.053 --> 01:33:53.433
Right Frank well that's it it's been a great chat mate been a good catch up
01:33:53.433 --> 01:33:57.433
thanks for your time. No thanks for having me thank you very much I was doing it.
01:33:58.000 --> 01:34:22.878
Music.