FourFourTwo UK – September 2019

theyallowedmetoplayortrainwhenever
I neededto.WithEngland,wewentonto
centralcontractsandwerepaidanannual
salarybytheFA.Thatallowedustotrain
more,butwestillhadourpart-timejobsso
weweren’tfullyprofessional– eventhough
weweretrainingeverydayasif wewere,
whetherthatwasasindividualsoringroups.
Howmuchdidit helpwhenthecentral
contractsallowedyoutotrainmore?
It increasedourfitness.Thathadbeenthe
biggestthingwhenwewereplayingthetop
nationslikeGermanyortheUSA– wejust
weren’tfitenough.Physicallyweweren’table
tocompetewiththeirstrengthandtheir
fitnesslevelsfor 90 minutes.NowEngland
playersareprofessionalandtheplayersare
touchinga balleverysingleday.That’sthe
bigdifferenceandwherewe’llseetheability
levelrise.We’reseeingthat.
Atthebeginningofyourcareer,weread
thatplayerswouldoftenendupwearing
a kitthatwaswaytoobig?
WhenI wasfirstintheEnglandteam,we
werewearingmen’skits.Thenintheearly
2000s,theystartedproducingkitsdesigned
forwomen,althoughit wasthesamedesign
asthemen’s.It’sonlythisyearwhenthey’ve
actuallychangedthedesignofthefemalekit
aswell,tomakeit morebespoketotheteam.
YouwereinductedintotheEnglishFootball
HallofFamein2015,alongsidethelikesof
GaryNevilleandStuartPearce.Whatwas
thatlike?
It wasa niceaccoladetobeabletosayyou
have.Therewasa dinner,andwewentalong
andhada nicemeal.It’sa bitofhistory,
a niceaccoladetobeabletosayyouhave.
Howdidit feelmissingoutonplayingat
the 2012 Olympics?Itcoincidedwithyou
startinga family,soit musthavebeen
a happytimeaswell...
[Smiles] Yeah.I knewI
theendofmycar
in2011,I’dhadq
hopedI wouldca
EuropeanChamp
A fewweeksinto
therewasa realis
wasbreakingdow
wereonthehoriz
wasa concernth
notbeabletoget
It wouldhavebee
toexperienceit,b
I experiencedit in
differentwayasa
workingfortheB
Howdidit feelw
youhadtoretire
Startinga family
perfectthingtoh
thevoid,because
wasa worry.Form
playersofa simila
me,KellySmitha
Yankey,wewere

who’dsacrificedanyothercareertoplay

football.WhenI firstjoinedtheEngland

team,theolderplayershadotherjobsand

thatwastheircareer,buttheyalsoplayed

football.Toraisethestandard,wedecided

tofocusonfootballasa career.

Isit truethatyousignedforArsenalin

a McDonald’s?

[Laughs] I didn’tactuallysignthatday,but

thatwasmyfirstmeetingwiththemanager,

VicAkers,yes!Hedrovedownbecausehe

knewI livednearGatwickAirportwithmy

family.I thinkhe’dseenmeina gamewith

mylocalteam,becauseweplayedArsenal

intheFACup.TheonlyplaceI couldthinkof

thathe’dbeabletofindeasilywasthelocal

McDonald’s!Heaskedme,“Wouldyoulike

anything?”ButI wasn’tgoingtoaskfora Big

Macandfriesif I wantedtosignforArsenal!

I justsaid,“I’llhavea cupofteaplease.”The

nexttimeI methim,hetookmetoHighbury.

Hetookmeintoa room,andI wasthinkingit

wasjustgoingtobea meetingroom,butit

wasoneoftheboxesoverlookingthepitch.It

wasquiteimpressive.I signedthereandthen.

Youwonanincredible 31 trophiesin 17

yearsatArsenal,and 10 PremierLeague

titles.Isthata record?

I don’tknow!MaybeI shouldknowthat.

[Laughs] It wasa timewhenArsenalwereat

theforefrontofeverything– theyledtheway

formanyyears,andstillcontinuetodoso.

We’reseeingChelsea,ManchesterCityand

nowManchesterUnited,who’vecomeinand

arenowgivingit thesamelevelofsupport

thatArsenalhavedonefor 30 years.I feel

extremelyfortunatetohaveplayedforsuch

a strongteamanda clubwhohavealways

shownsupporttofemales,whetherthey’re

playersorsupporters.

WhatwerethestarsoftheArsenalmen’s

teamlikebackthen?

PatrickVieiraandThierryHenrywerevery

supportive.Theyalwaystookaninterestin

kedusaboutthe

stinevery

ouragedus.

rentculturein

women’sgame

cearealways

women’steam.

terwardswhen

orNewYork

w yearsago.

mericaduring

pre-season

hecameover

edtalkingto

hada goodold

quitea while.

havetodo

mustmeet

people,and

e expectsa bit

. It wasniceto

wasspeaking

ingevent

Whatdoyourememberaboutthedayyou

joinedWolves?

GrahamTaylorhadjustbeencoachingthe

Englandnationalteamwhenhebecamethe

newmanagerofWolverhamptonWanderers

in1994.I wasa bigsigningforhim.I arrived

onDecember5 thatyear,andthenextday

Taylortoldthesquad,“Guys,hewillbecome

ourleader.”I wasflabbergasted.ButI was

abletohandlethatpressure.I camefrom

FeyenoordwhereI’dachieveda lot.If you

havemanagedtostandfirmatDeKuip,you

canhandlealmosteverything.

Whatwasyourfirstgamefortheclub?

It wasa homematchagainstNottsCounty–

forthefirsttimein 17 games,Wolveskept

a cleansheet.Wewon1-0andmovedinto

2ndplace.Everythingfeltright.ThereI was,

at32,infootball-madEngland,evenbeing

thecaptainoftheteam.Myfamilywassitting

inthestandsandtherewasmediaoverfrom

Hollandaswell.Theshirtwasorangeand

evenmynameblendedinwellwiththeclub!

Doyouhavea favouritegameduringthat

timeatWolves?

ThatwaswhenI scoredthreegoalsatPort

Vale.I didn’tremembertheexactdateofthe

game,butnowadaysyougetremindedofthe

anniversaryviasocialmedia– ‘hat-trickhero’!

If youwatchthefootage,you’llseethepitch

hadbecomea kindofploughedland.I scored

twotimesfromcorners:thefirstwithmyleft

foot,andthesecondwitha header.Thethird

InterviewYoerivandenBusken

The Wolves cult hero was the

greatest triumph in the history

of nominative determinism

• until Wolfsburg appointed
  Wolfgang Wolf as manager

JOHn DE WOLF

“WHEnEVER I GO

BACK TO VISIT

WOLVERHAMPTOn,

THE FAnS WILL

STILL SHOUT OUT,

‘HEY, WOLFMAn!’”

106 September 2

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