FourFourTwo UK – September 2019

You’re still the Lionesses’ longest-serving

campaign, having held the armband for 10

years between 2002 and 2012. How proud

are you of that?

Massively. Just playing for my country was

a huge honour, so it was brilliant to be captain

for so long – especially during a period when

we had to raise the standard of the game,

drag it into focus and increase awareness.

For young players now, players like Georgia

Stanway and Nikita Parris, they’re coming in

as professionals. I’d love to turn the clock

back and be 18 again, to experience playing

football all the time!

What was your other occupation while you

were playing?

I was a fitness instructor at first, then I left my

job to work for Arsenal, the club I played for.

I was a development officer at Arsenal, but

FourFourTwo September 2019 105

England came close to reaching the World

Cup final. Do you think it’s only a matter of

time before they win something?

I do. We host the Euros in 2021, and Great

Britain will have a team at the Olympics in

Tokyo next year. We are close now. Previously

when we were going to big tournaments, we

were looking at the quarter finals, or wouldn’t

a semi-final be amazing. Now we’re third in the

world, and the team are more than capable.

You were in the team that reached the Euro

2009 Final. How big an achievement was it?

At that time, no one expected us to get to the

final. We actually lost our first group game and

finished third in the group. For us, to reach the

final was like we’d won the whole tournament

• we were first time finalists against Germany,
  the European champions four times over. That
  was a highlight of my career.

FA Cup semi-final against Newcastle [below].
Wembley was really special, and to score two
important goals to get us into the final was
great – I was in the place I wanted to be.
What was it like playing in the same team
as Gianfranco Zola?
He was the best player I played with – when
I played with him, I was a better player. For
my Sunderland scissor-kick that everyone
remembers, he could have passed the ball to
me outside the box. I was free and saying,
‘Yeah, give it to me’. But he said with his eyes,
‘Keep going, don’t worry, the ball will drop in
front of you’. I kept running, wondering, ‘What
are you doing?’ – then he flicked it over the
defence, and I did what I did. I’d never done it
before and I never did it after, but that’s Zola.
What impact did Dennis Wise have?
We got better when Wisey made the decision
that we should speak all English inside the
training ground. As soon as you got past the
gates, it was English – until then it had been
every language. It made us better as a group.
You helped Chelsea into the Champions
League and won 5-0 at Galatasaray. What
was that night like?
In the first game, a few fans from Galatasaray
jumped onto the pitch. The security couldn’t
get them, so Dennis tackled one. When we got
to Istanbul, they wanted to kill Dennis Wise!
There were so many signs saying ‘Wisey, dead’.
They phoned Wisey’s room at 2am to wake
him up, then when we got 100 yards from the
stadium on the bus, they smashed all of the
windows. We were hiding in the middle of the
bus. We got inside the stadium, walked onto
the pitch and it was packed. There were police
with riot shields, and a guy with a microphone
was singing, making everyone jump. But we
had Zola. After what had happened before
the game, to see those same fans stand up
and applaud him when he was substituted
after 80 minutes, that showed how good we
were that night. When we left the stadium,
there was no one there. Their supporters said,
‘They’re good, let them go home’.
What do you remember about the young
John Terry?
He was exactly the same when he was 18 or
19 – jumping into training, tackling, taking
responsibility. He was intelligent, learning a lot
from the other players, asking questions. Right
from the start, you could tell he was a leader.
You have managed AEK Athens, Real Betis,
Shanghai Shenhua and Bordeaux since you
left Sunderland in 2015. Are you planning
to return to English football?
I know there aren’t many jobs but I’m trying
to see my options, and if people want me as
well. I had great experiences in England as
a manager. I left and I thought it would be for
a year or so – now it’s been more than four.
I’ve had a few chances to come back, but it
wasn’t the right time for the clubs and myself.
I’m not in a hurry, but I’d like to come back.

Poyet was speaking at Stamford Bridge during
the launch of grass roots scheme, Hyundai FC.
For more details, visit football.hyundai.co.uk

Interview Chris Flanagan

The former Gunners defender got her big break in a fast food

restaurant, then became England’s longest-serving captain

TEAMS

Maidstone

Wimbledon

Newcastle

Derby

QPR

Dagenham & Redbridge

England

FAYE WHITE

“WHEn I SIGnED FOR ARSEnAL, WE

MET AT MCDOnALD’S – I THOUGHT

I’D BETTER nOT ORDER A BIG MAC!”