Gabriel Agbonlahor is the all time leading scorer for Aston Villa Football Club – he is a true legend there and we dive into his time there - but when I think of Gabby I think of this -

It’s an interesting time for a player when it comes time to retire.

They are still young – usually in their early 30’s – they're famous, have a ton of money, a ton of time, they don’t really know how to do anything else, and used to the rush of 50,000 people screaming for you once per week. And well - it does not always go well for a young man with that set of circumstances.

And when I think of Gabby Agbonlahor – I think about this moment in his life. He remembers how it crept up on him – like, wait – 'I can just grab my lads and head to Las Vegas, or Monaco, and hang out and party?

And when Gabby retired he did this - for one year – way too much booze, living a fast and hard life – until he had a moment – a personal moment of reflection that wise people can have – that his life was veering out of control and he had to right the ship.

So, Gabby caught himself before he fell too far - and he entered the field of soccer journalism and punditry and found himself right at home. He now talks football on the biggest radio station in the world – and he’s quite good at it – full of humor and charisma – and often with a controversial take that lands him in the papers.

Gabby also counsels other football clubs on how to deal with life after the game – how to plan ahead – how to avoid trouble, care for your mental health and live a good post career life.

I learned a lot from Gabby and I hope you find him as interesting as I did.

Episode 17 – Gabriel Agbonlahor

He was the best American soccer player when America could care less about soccer.

Today, the most talented 21 year old American player – we know that guy. He is probably quite famous, rich and playing at a massive club. This was not the case in 1989 for John Harkes.

But his ability could not be overlooked, and as such he was able to play at levels no American ever had before: the Prem, FA Cup, Wembley.

He would star in two World Cups, and with his teammates and friends, were so successful that the US National Team will never again be as irrelevant as it was when John was coming up.

He was a key member to the initial launch of the MLS – and while more lucrative opportunities lay elsewhere – as a US Player, who never really had ‘a league of their own’ he, along with his colleagues, wanted to leave one for those players that came after.

I loved my chat with John – smiled the entire time - Give us a listen and I hope you enjoy our conversation.

EP: 16 – the great John Harkes

Ray played 15 years for Arsenal. And he was there for the arrival of the great Arsene Wegner – and he would go on to bring some of the greatest players to ever grace the Premier League - Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, Patrick Viera to name a few.

In the 97-98 campaign, Ray was playing exceptionally well – maybe the best year of his career – and it was only natural that the national team – coached by that Tottenham legend – Glenn Hoddle - would give him a look.

Coach Arsene himself lobbied the coach that there is no better winger in all of England.

Glenn Hoddle was a believe in: ‘faith healing’ – and the team had an appointed faith healer – a woman named Eileen Drewery.

As Ray was on trial with the Three Lions, he had pulled his calf. And coach Hoddle sent him to see Miss Eileen for 'treatment'. Eileen sat him in the chair, walked round to his back and began rubbing Ray’s scalp. Ray being Ray goes, 'Allright Love, take a little off the the sides and the back, but leave the length on the top’ (this is a slight paraphrase, but you get the gyst)

Unbeknownst to him, Ray had deeply offended Mr Hoddle with this, and would miss out on playing in the 98 World Cup as a result.

But his smile was big as he recalled this story – as was mine – and it was a real joy to hear him tell me so many others – I hope you enjoy them as well - here on the soccerPod #14.

Ray played 15 years for Arsenal. And he was there for the arrival of the great Arsene Wegner – and he would go on to bring some of the greatest players to ever grace the Premier League - Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, Patrick Viera to name a few.

In the 97-98 campaign, Ray was playing exceptionally well – maybe the best year of his career – and it was only natural that the national team – coached by that Tottenham legend – Glenn Hoddle - would give him a look.

Coach Arsene himself lobbied the coach that there is no better winger in all of England.

Glenn Hoddle was a believe in: ‘faith healing’ – and the team had an appointed faith healer – a woman named Eileen Drewery.

As Ray was on trial with the Three Lions, he had pulled his calf. And coach Hoddle sent him to see Miss Eileen for 'treatment'. Eileen sat him in the chair, walked round to his back and began rubbing Ray’s scalp. Ray being Ray goes, 'Allright Love, take a little off the the sides and the back, but leave the length on the top’ (this is a slight paraphrase, but you get the gyst)

Unbeknownst to him, Ray had deeply offended Mr Hoddle with this, and would miss out on playing in the 98 World Cup as a result.

But his smile was big as he recalled this story – as was mine – and it was a real joy to hear him tell me so many others – I hope you enjoy them as well - here on the soccerPod #14.

There are currently some 13000 players in the youth system of English premier league clubs. Of these 13000 players – the best youth players in the country - less than 1% - way less - will ever see the field for a premier league side.

Now if you adjust those odds for a 23 year old American – who plays in the English 9th division – who has to work odd jobs to make ends meet – well the odds – they become much longer than 1%.

But that is what Jay Demerit did – he began his professional career in England playing at parks for no pay and within 2 years he was playing at Wembley Stadium in front of 80,000 people. He went from guarding guys who would have beers at halftime, to guarding Wayne Rooney at Old Trafford.

His story is truly remarkable and as far as American soccer careers go – there are few that are more screenplay worthy than Jay Demerits.

If you are an American soccer fan of roughly my age – mid 40’s - you may remember a movie called: Victory, with Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine - directed by the great John Huston.

The film is set in WW2 where a group of war prisoners – captured from around the world – are forced to play a football match against the Nazi German squad – for propaganda purposes.

The filmmakers secured real footballers for the prisoners – the great Pele, Bobby Moore and a young kid from Cordoba, Argentina who looks to be the best of them all. At one point, he dribbles the entire Germans – even includes a rainbow over a defender - scores and even the Germans in the crowd applaud his skill. And he does look – for what it's worth for a staged film production – like he is the most skilled out there.

And this turned out to be a normal occurrence for Oswaldo Ardiles. 

In 1978 Oswaldo won the World Cup on home soil for his beloved Argentina. Then he did something that was rare for the time. He took his game to north London and signed with the Tottenham HotSpurs with his good friend – Ricardo Villa. As is his tendency, he won over the fan base immediately – but it was during this time unfortunately, that his country of birth and his country of employment went to war in the Falkland Islands. 

It was a strange time for Ossie – the English began to look suspiciously on him as an Argentine and his Argentine countrymen did the same – as if this Londoner was not to be trusted. 

But Ossie weathered this as he did all things. His career spans nearly 30 years as a player and another 30 as a manager. We met in his hometown of London in a small flat and he could not have been cooler to us. I hope you enjoy our conversation – the great Ossie Ardiles.

Paul Merson is one of the most popular soccer pundits in the UK. And his voice and childlike enthusiasm serves as nice commentary to go with some of the biggest moments of recent English football.

He is a legend at mighty Arsenal as his runs down the right and crosses in were a mainstay of that era. He has his fair share of trophies - and he played in and won a game that in my view – is the most important in Premier League history – where it entered a new strata of popularity.

But Paul is also in recovery – from alcohol, drugs and what he says is the worse one by far – gambling. When we booked Paul – he required a fee for his time – not an unusual thing for us. But what was unusual is it was made very clear to us on several occasions that we were never under any circumstances to give money directly to Paul. Directly to his wife was the firm instruction.

Paul’s phone is disabled from adding apps so as not to allow for any gambling.

The reason for this worry had to do with a gambling relapse Paul had recently suffered – He had worked hard with Sky and BBC - and saved up for 18 months for a down payment on a new home with his wife – 160,000 pounds was now sitting in savings.

Covid had made him antsy though and as he put it - the monster awoke in him. Within half a day – one 4 hour session - he had lost it all - on various sports - mostly table tennis – of which he knew nothing, but was one of the few sports that he could find during the lockdown - but he had to bet on something. It was for him – rock bottom.

He contemplated two choices. Tell his wife – or commit suicide. And for 2 weeks he wasn’t sure. Hard to believe walking around for 2 weeks with that operating on your mind. But in the end, and as he spent time with his children, luckily the answer was to come clean and tell his wife. And luckily, she stood by him - sought help from the right people, and things seem to be ok.

I think of that as being a heroic moment for Paul – and he allows for some pride to come out as he recalls the decision – which was cool to see.

Paul was a year clear of this when we sat with him in Twickenham in West London – and he seemed well. We spoke about his tremendous Arsenal career, his national team experience with the Three Lions – and of course his demons off the pitch.

As he put it – all we have is one day at a time.

The women’s game has come a long way in the US. The female stars of today make millions of dollars and play in front of sold out American stadiums.

But it was not always so. The generation prior to them – of which Tisha Venturini was one of the best – did not have a league to play in. They would go from winning World Cups to giving lessons to young girls for $25/hour to make ends meet. They were on their own to keep fit until the Olympic Games would come along – and after winning the gold they would have to go and wait tables until the next tournament. You were kind of on your own to piece together your own career.

It is deeply satisfying for Tisha to see that she and her crew left the game in far better shape for the young women of today than they found it. I found Tisha’s journey fascinating – and even more so because we will not see the likes of it again.

I hope you enjoy our conversation here.

SoccerPod #9 – Tisha Venturini

The women’s game has come a long way in the US. The female stars of today make millions of dollars and play in front of sold out American stadiums.

But it was not always so. The generation prior to them – of which Tisha Venturini was one of the best – did not have a league to play in. They would go from winning World Cups to giving lessons to young girls for $25/hour to make ends meet. They were on their own to keep fit until the Olympic Games would come along – and after winning the gold they would have to go and wait tables until the next tournament. You were kind of on your own to piece together your own career.

It is deeply satisfying for Tisha to see that she and her crew left the game in far better shape for the young women of today than they found it. I found Tisha’s journey fascinating – and even more so because we will not see the likes of it again.

I hope you enjoy our conversation here.

SoccerPod #9 – Tisha Venturini

In June of 1982, Norman Whiteside broke the Guinness record for the youngest person to ever play in a World Cup - at 17 years and 40 days. The record had stood for 24 years when a young Brazilian named Pele’ went to Sweden and won the World Cup for his country. When Norman returned home after the tournament, he received a letter from the great Brazilian. It was very congratulatory, very gracious and kind. But with wit, the great one ended it with: ‘now son, go to work on my other records’.

Norman had many more stories to tell and it was with great joy that on a rainy Sunday in Manchester I got to hear him lay them out. I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for listening! We appreciate your support.