Latest / Team of the eighties / From Palace to Millwall to Gillingham and Wales ~ Steve Lovell

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From Palace to Millwall to Gillingham and Wales ~ Steve Lovell · Team of the eighties

• 0:00
  Taylor.
• 0:01
  Oh, what a goal by Peter Taylor.
• 0:19
  So today I've got a dear deer pal of mine that I've known for many, many years.
• 0:26
  We used to hang a lot together back in the late 70s, early 80s.
• 0:30
  Lovely fella, great footballer.
• 0:32
  Not a bad golfer, too, and he did a bit of management.
• 0:35
  Steve, lovely to see you, mate.
• 0:37
  Stevie Lovell, welcome, mate.
• 0:40
  Yeah, thanks, Gary.
• 0:41
  It's.
• 0:41
  It's lovely to see you.
• 0:42
  And it's right, you know, all them years ago.
• 0:45
  It's.
• 0:46
  It's nearly 50 years, you know, Gary.
• 0:48
  It is.
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  And it's.
• 0:51
  It's unbelievable where the time has gone, but, you know, you have memories and there's football memories and there's personal memories, but, you know, you never forget people and, and when.
• 1:03
  The times that we used to have that mostly, a lot of them we can't say on the air, but we had some good times together and things that we won't get away with now, I'm sure.
• 1:15
  But, but no, they were.
• 1:17
  They were good times.
• 1:18
  And on the field and off the field, mate, they.
• 1:21
  They were.
• 1:22
  They were.
• 1:23
  We will have a chat of a few of those we can get away with because they were.
• 1:29
  You know, before we get into your, Your.
• 1:32
  Your football career and how you got to palace and what went on, I was thinking the other day before I, I talked to you, because we used to hang together a lot and if you and I keep saying
• 1:43
  the same thing, people think that being on end or is the Premier League, well, before the Premier League, it was the First Division and you could just not have done, or any of us could not have done the
• 1:55
  things together that we did today.
• 1:57
  If it was today, it just wouldn't have happened.
• 2:00
  But they were good times and they gave us a lot of laughs.
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  And nobody got hurt.
• 2:05
  Nobody.
• 2:05
  No, no, there was no problems.
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  It was just fun.
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  That's all it was.
• 2:08
  Yeah, it was fun.
• 2:09
  It was.
• 2:11
  So, starting off, Steve, when you was in Wales, you.
• 2:14
  You grew up in Swansea, right?
• 2:16
  Yep.
• 2:17
  Yeah, I was in Swansea and I obviously played.
• 2:21
  I played rugby a lot in, in school, but before that I played on a Sunday with my dad.
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  Had a team from about eight or nine years upwards.
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  Played in a team that were rubbish.
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  Used to get hammered every week, but we used to turn up and still play and enjoy it.
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  And I think that, you know, that that remains with you.
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  You know, if you're in a team early on and winning everything, it's so easy to carry on doing it.
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  But when you're in a team that's getting hammered every week, you've got to love the game to carry on doing it and, and that's, that's what I did and my dad put that into me and then obviously got
• 3:01
  got playing and got scouted by palace, playing in representative games for Swansea and you know, obviously got invited up to Swansea, up to palace and it went from there really.
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  But you know, the initial part was obviously playing locally in, in the Swansea area and getting into the, the schoolboy side and then into the Welsh school boys and, and then teams sort of get interested in you then.
• 3:30
  Yeah.
• 3:32
  Did you have a, well, did you have a lot of clubs in for you, Steve?
• 3:35
  Did you have a choice of.
• 3:37
  Yeah, I'm sure, yeah.
• 3:38
  There was, you know, there was the Leeds, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham, there was all loads of teams in for and for me, but palace obviously as well.
• 3:50
  And Malcolm Allison was the, the manager then and he was a great character and you know, I could have gone to any of them but my mum, my mum and dad decided for, well, funny enough, Malcolm Allison one
• 4:06
  Sunday morning my mum was doing the hoovering and there's a knock on the door on this big fella at the door with a dark shadow and a hat on and she opened the door and his bloody Malcolm Allison
• 4:18
  won it.
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  So he'd come all the way down from London to speak to my mum and dad for me to sign because they wanted me to sign, you know.
• 4:28
  And so my dad and they, they organized a deal.
• 4:32
  My dad made sure I had three years contract so that I could at least have a goal for three years at 16 to 19.
• 4:42
  And he said, he always said if you don't make it then you're never going to make it.
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  So they, they agreed to the, the contract and I ended up signing for palace in the end.
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  And that's how I, I got there.
• 4:55
  I, I, I remember, well, I remember your dad and I remember the influence you had in your career.
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  And I always felt that with his, you know, his knowledge and his experience that really helped you.
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  And there again like there's a master stroke right there the three years.
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  It's interesting to me when I speak to the boys, they all say the same thing, like bigger clubs.
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  Obviously you, you guys went on to prove how good you were because you won the Youth cup twice.
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  But you all had a choice of many clubs and most of them were bigger than palace, but it was the charisma and the draw of Malcolm Allison and he also went the final yards to make sure that these
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  transfers happen.
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  These, these signings happened.
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  They did.
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  Gary, he Did.
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  And the big thing was as well that my, My dad, My family.
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  I had family members who lived in the area, in Wallington, in.
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  In Croydon, just outside Croydon.
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  So they knew, my mum and dad knew that I was good.
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  If I was gonna leave home at just 15 years of age or 16 years of age, I'm gonna go to a place where I'm going to be looked after.
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  And that was the big thing for my parents to make sure I was.
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  I was okay and I was happy where I was going.
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  So that proved, you know, really well I stayed with my aunties for the first two.
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  Two years of my time.
• 6:20
  Yeah, at Palace.
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  But, you know, also John Cartwright was the youth team manager and my dad looked at that from a footballing perspective as well.
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  He's a bloody good coach and he was.
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  He was a good coach and he put us.
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  He brought us all together and was the main reason why we won the Youth cup two years running.
• 6:42
  Yeah.
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  Again, the same sentiment from the other lads John Cartwright gets.
• 6:48
  Yeah.
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  Everyone loves the Malcolm and ahead of his time and the swagger and the glamour that he brought to the club, but I think John Cartwright definitely really brought all of you along.
• 7:00
  Right.
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  Yeah, he did and he really did.
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  And, you know, it was.
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  It was strange because, like you say, he was so far ahead, years ahead of.
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  Of his time, John.
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  And the way and.
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  And the coaching sort of his.
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  His own plan of.
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  Of the way he coached and the way he.
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  He really put his points across, it was.
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  It was so perfect and we all understood it and I think, you know, like the likes of Terry Venables, George Graham, I think seeing that because they were at the club at the time they came and obviously was
• 7:37
  there and saw the way that John coached.
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  A lot of their coaching methods were passed on by John, I think, and they, again, they were two great coaches to play and work under.
• 7:50
  Wow.
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  Wow.
• 7:51
  Yeah.
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  Fantastic.
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  I mean, you obviously, you know, we'll talk about that.
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  When you went on to Millwall, you worked even closer with George.
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  But getting into palace team Steve, very talented bunch.
• 8:03
  And you had two years.
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  You played in both of those years in the Youth Cup Final, correct?
• 8:09
  Yes.
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  Yeah, we did.
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  Yeah.
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  We played Everton.
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  The Everton one was over two legs over the two legs and Terry Fennec obviously scored the winning goal.
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  And then the following year we played at Highbury against Aston Villa, 11 nil.
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  And Terry scored the.
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  Terry Fennec scored the winning goal there again.
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  So.
• 8:32
  Yeah.
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  Which he couldn't wait to remind me of last week.
• 8:35
  Yeah,.
• 8:41
  It was hard Gary for me it was hard to break into the team because most probably from a skill perspective I wasn't the most skillful player but I really worked hard at everything.
• 8:53
  I could get around the pitch and I could do the bits and bobs, but the likes of Terry and Jerry Murphy and Peter Nicholas, they, they and Billy Gilbert, Kenny Sands new could go on and Vince Alley, all
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  these, all these players were in I think Terry's eyes.
• 9:10
  They were, they, they were going to be the making of the, of the football club and I had to work really, really hard at what I was, thought I was good at at the time because I was a
• 9:21
  defender first and foremost.
• 9:24
  So that's probably, you know, I wasn't that good a defender because they moved me up front in the end but you know, as a defender I wasn't going to get into the team because the defensive setup at palace
• 9:38
  at the time was brilliant.
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  The midfield and the forwards, that's when it came in a little bit better.
• 9:43
  But I had to work really, really hard to get into, to get my break and when I got my break, obviously I had a good run.
• 9:52
  Running the team then.
• 9:56
  Yeah, the likes of Jerry Murphy, Terry Fenneck, especially Terry Terry most probably because, you know, Venables really liked that, that kind of player and, and sort of talking within I think the Tottenham and QPR in the end as
• 10:10
  well.
• 10:11
  So for me it was more hard work.
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  It was a grafting thing rather than a skillful thing really.
• 10:20
  Yeah, but I mean, you know, you, you applied, you played at right back and left back for palace, didn't you Steve?
• 10:26
  I played everywhere, Gary like, like and that was a problem, that was a problem for me.
• 10:31
  I could play everywhere.
• 10:32
  Yeah, I'll, I'll go just a little bit, I'll go on.
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  I, I, I, I really got into the team and played midfield very, very well and, and got established.
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  But then I remember Alamari coming along and because I could play right back, left back, I used to go and I was planning a really good spell at midfield where I was, I really enjoyed it, getting it and
• 10:56
  scoring goals and whatever.
• 10:58
  Butlery.
• 11:00
  Then we had a, we had an injury at left back, Williams, a left back got injured and I remember Alan Mallory going right.
• 11:09
  Steve, you can go and play left back.
• 11:11
  Yeah, I can't, I can't even stand on my left foot.
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  They might kick with it, you know.
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  So it sort of, it knackered me up, knackered me up in a way.
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  And then I went in there, played.
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  I was awful, I was awful at left Back.
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  But, and then that's what in the end I, I had to leave palace then because like I wasn't getting in the tide at that fullback.
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  I wasn't getting to the side as midfield because there was.
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  Jerry Murphy had come back from the injury because I was in midfield and, and Jerry Francis and all these kind of people were just, just there and it was hard for me to get it.
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  So that's what, that's why I left, left palace at the end.
• 11:49
  But obviously that's after seven, you know, years of being there and really enjoying, enjoying my time on football there.
• 11:57
  Yeah, no, I, I, I do remember, you know, to make you one game, you was playing right back, I think you scored a blinder from about 30 yards.
• 12:05
  Remember that one, Steve?
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  That was against Birmingham.
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  I remember it, I remember it well.
• 12:10
  Yeah, Actually for, for palace didn't score many goals because again there was a fullback or, or a midfield player.
• 12:25
  I do remember that one.
• 12:27
  Oh, it's a blinder, mate.
• 12:29
  Yeah, he's a blinder.
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  Yeah.
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  What a great goal.
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  Yeah.
• 12:32
  Was that where you, well it was where you got, you and I.
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  And for people who don't know, you were incredibly fit, extremely fast and you got that nickname Bionic.
• 12:45
  Right?
• 12:46
  Yeah, yeah, it was funny.
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  It was, it was the first, my first pre season at Palace, 1976, 16 year old.
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  We were over at Mitchum, not Mitchum, we were at Elmer's End train, the gas boat over there, the training field.
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  And it was the likes of Peter Taylor was there and all, all the old Terry, Terry Venables and they were, they were all there as obviously senior professionals then.
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  I was just a youngster and we had a sprint race.
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  We had a race for the football club and I think it was, Mark instigated it said, right, we're gonna have a sprint race.
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  And so that's what we did.
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  And I won the race, you know, the sprint racing through all of the team.
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  And that's where the name got Bionic.
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  And it was Barry Silkman.
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  Barry Silkman.
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  Give me that, give me that, that name.
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  And I never forget Bionic.
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  And whenever I see him now, Barry, he calls me Bionic.
• 13:51
  He does, you know, and it sounds, is really, it sounds really strange, Gary, to hear it, you know, but everybody like used to call me that at the club there.
• 14:00
  Yeah, no, I thought, I thought it was a lovely nickname.
• 14:03
  I thought it was very endearing and, and at the time, you know, what's his name, Steve, whatever his name was, was the Bionic man.
• 14:11
  And, and everybody knew, everybody Knew that it meant that you were a fit fella, you know.
• 14:18
  Yeah.
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  Steve Austin.
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  That's it.
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  And.
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  And, you know, Silk is a character.
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  Of course he came up with that name.
• 14:24
  Yeah, he's going to be on in a couple of weeks.
• 14:27
  Oh, yeah, Flinder.
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  Blinder.
• 14:29
  Absolutely Blinder.
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  Yeah.
• 14:30
  He's a brilliant.
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  I've seen.
• 14:31
  I've seen him a few times, obviously, when I was manager of Gillingham, I saw him a lot because he was an agent and he's agent and players, so.
• 14:38
  So I used to see him quite a lot.
• 14:40
  But him and Rashid Harcourt.
• 14:43
  Yeah, they were good friends.
• 14:46
  No, they're great.
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  You know, I.
• 14:48
  Steve, I had Spider on too.
• 14:49
  I had him on.
• 14:50
  I had him on the phone.
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  Yeah, yeah, mate, I didn't like he.
• 14:54
  He very, very.
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  Because the story with Rashid was just a quick one, but I.
• 14:59
  I met him with Charlie at Crystal palace and, and he was always, always a good lad and.
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  And, you know, he doesn't.
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  He doesn't.
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  He doesn't do it.
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  He doesn't do interviews.
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  But I had him on the phone and he was.
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  He was brilliant as only Spider could be, you know.
• 15:13
  He was lovely.
• 15:14
  Yeah, yeah, he was great.
• 15:15
  He was.
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  So at palace, that's it.
• 15:19
  It's not happening.
• 15:20
  You.
• 15:20
  You can't really get inside and when you do get in the side, you're not happy, but you're not really in.
• 15:26
  And Mill will come in and things change, mate.
• 15:31
  Things change.
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  Right?
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  Because when you.
• 15:34
  Sorry, just to interrupt.
• 15:35
  When you went to Millwall.
• 15:37
  When you went to Millwall, as you know, I stopped watching palace for a while.
• 15:41
  I just came and watched.
• 15:42
  Watch you at Milwaukee.
• 15:43
  Yeah, and they were great times, mate.
• 15:46
  They were great times.
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  They were Gary.
• 15:48
  And, you know, the big thing was, like, Terry Venables was a player with.
• 15:53
  Sorry, George Graham was a player with.
• 15:56
  At.
• 15:57
  At palace before, because we were playing in the.
• 15:59
  In the combination.
• 16:01
  Football combination, the reserves then.
• 16:03
  So George knew exactly what I.
• 16:05
  What I could do and everything.
• 16:07
  So when he got the.
• 16:08
  The MILW job, I was his first signing to go over and.
• 16:14
  And, and so he took me over to Millwall with him and I thought, well, it's a great opportunity.
• 16:19
  You know, I'm not really getting on with Alan Mullory at Palace.
• 16:24
  He's not picking me.
• 16:25
  I'm playing in different positions.
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  So George signed me as a fullback.
• 16:28
  I went as a right back and I played the end of that season as a fullback.
• 16:34
  And then it's going into the next season, the start of the season, we had an injury Crisis.
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  And Dean Neal, who's the center forward, got injured and we didn't have a forward.
• 16:48
  So we were playing Brentford on the Saturday.
• 16:51
  So I saw on the Friday or the Thursday, whatever it was, Daniel got injured and we were talking and I went to George Grimoire, stick me up front.
• 17:01
  I'll have a go, jokingly.
• 17:04
  And we came to the the game on the Saturday and the team sheet was up and I was up as a center forward.
• 17:11
  So George had a word.
• 17:14
  We haven't got a center forward.
• 17:16
  I think you could do a job up there.
• 17:18
  So I went, well, great.
• 17:20
  Okay.
• 17:21
  So we played Brentford on the Saturday.
• 17:23
  We won two one.
• 17:24
  I scored two and I went, I went, Gary, I went and scored 13.
• 17:31
  Then in the next 11 games up front, it was a record.
• 17:35
  It's a 13 goals in 11 consecutive games.
• 17:39
  Yeah, I remember it was a record.
• 17:42
  It's a record.
• 17:42
  I think it still is a record now.
• 17:45
  And that's when I stayed, I stayed up front then for the, I was top scorer that season and the next two seasons at Millwall.
• 17:54
  Then I had an injury playing for Wales and then stayed up front when I went to Gillingham as well.
• 18:01
  Yeah, Last part, possibly the last nine years of my careers, I played up front.
• 18:08
  Yeah.
• 18:08
  Now you, you.
• 18:10
  There were times where you played up front.
• 18:12
  Like, again, for people who don't know, it's a while ago, obviously, as we, as we said, yeah, Millwall, it must have been a special place to play because, you know, you can say what you want about those fans.
• 18:27
  They're passionate, they care and they're right there and they go everywhere.
• 18:31
  And it, that the Den, mate, was a place to play, right, Steve?
• 18:37
  It was Gary.
• 18:38
  It, it was unbelievable.
• 18:39
  It was, it was a goal.
• 18:40
  You had a goal star.
• 18:42
  You know, you play at the Den and you come out of that tunnel and the raw.
• 18:47
  It gives you a lift.
• 18:48
  It gives you goose.
• 18:49
  B.
• 18:49
  It's, it's a, it was a fantastic place to play.
• 18:53
  Obviously, if you, if you're liked, if you're liked by the, the fans, it's a great, great place.
• 18:58
  If you're not, it's the worst place to be in the world.
• 19:01
  But, but it's, it was great times for me, obviously, because I, I, I got, went and scored goals and got us, you know, to FA cup quarterfinals and, and everything and promotions and so I had an affiliation with
• 19:18
  the fans and we had a bond where, you know, I was lucky, I was lucky that I, I got in there and, and George gave me that opportunity to, to perform like I Did and score the goal.
• 19:29
  So it, it was a great place to be.
• 19:31
  And even away from all Gary, you know, the support used to take away from it used to be, you know, used to give you such a buzz when you're, when you're a player.
• 19:41
  Yeah, no, you, you, you had a great, you had a great bunch of lads there as well, didn't you?
• 19:45
  Had Sammy, you had Rhino, you had.
• 19:47
  Yeah, yeah.
• 19:48
  And of course, of course you had, you had fashion up top and there were times when you up top with fashion, you were unplayable, like Chelsea away.
• 19:58
  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 20:06
  You know, fashion was, you know, he used to bash, you know, bash the bash we used to call him.
• 20:11
  And you know, he, he could, he could handle himself.
• 20:14
  And there's a, a couple of stories that in a couple of games, I remember him sorting a few players out for me.
• 20:20
  So he was, he was a great, great foil for me.
• 20:24
  Yeah, we helped each other, you know, to, to get the goals that we did.
• 20:29
  Yeah, and, and lovely.
• 20:30
  He was charming, right?
• 20:31
  Charming, wasn't he?
• 20:32
  Lovely?
• 20:33
  Yeah, yeah, he handled it, he handled himself very, very well.
• 20:37
  We called him, we called him Johnny Quick quote, because he, he loved, he loved being on the telly, on the radio.
• 20:47
  Johnny Quick Quote we call him.
• 20:49
  And obviously he went in on to do the Gladiators, another other career in telly as well.
• 20:54
  But he was a great lad, he was a lovely fellow and well, he still is and obviously it was great.
• 21:03
  It was interesting being around him, Gary, all the time.
• 21:05
  But he helped me hell of a lot on the football field.
• 21:08
  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 21:11
  Listen, Millwall were very, very tough to play at that time and you got your promotions as I remember, and you had a little run in the cup and, and just a quick one for the, for the people that
• 21:22
  are listening because that game away at Luton, which turned into be infamous and not famous, but so as you know, I used to, I used to come and watch all your games and, and I had two cars at
• 21:36
  the time, remember?
• 21:37
  I had the Stag and I had the Mini and, and I thought, I'm not going to drive the stack to loot and I'll drive the Mini.
• 21:43
  Yeah.
• 21:43
  And I bought this little sticker, Millwall sticker, and it was 20p this sticker, and I put it in the window and I parked up in Luton.
• 21:54
  And if you remember, Steve, like after the game, remember when we was in the lounge, the police came in, they said, you don't want to go outside there because it's, it's murder, remember?
• 22:03
  Yeah.
• 22:04
  Yeah.
• 22:04
  And eventually like an hour and a half later, which is a long, long time to wait.
• 22:10
  After I went outside and walked to the car and all the houses, all the cars were smashed a bit, some were overturned.
• 22:19
  It was horrible.
• 22:21
  But my mini with that 20 piece sticker, Milwaukee sticker was still there with the aerial.
• 22:28
  The aerial was set up.
• 22:29
  Not even the aerial had been touched.
• 22:31
  It was like the best.
• 22:32
  It was the best.
• 22:33
  I don't.
• 22:34
  Yeah.
• 22:34
  You know, a tough one to laugh about because that was a serious night for a few people.
• 22:38
  But look, that's 20p I ever spent, mate.
• 22:45
  It saved your Mini anyway, did it?
• 22:48
  Well, the mini was only 50 pence so.
• 22:53
  But that, that, but that game, like I say it was, we didn't, I didn't know the full extent of it until we come home because like Mary said, I've seen it on the telly and it's been terrible and
• 23:05
  all.
• 23:05
  And we didn't know obviously because we got taken off the pitch just before half time.
• 23:10
  Yes.
• 23:12
  Because of the crowd coming in at that end and the police had to get us off the pitch.
• 23:16
  So we didn't know anything about it until obviously I come home and, and you saw it all on, on the telly.
• 23:22
  But we didn't know it, you know, the severity of it until that time.
• 23:27
  But then, you know, we were on top of.
• 23:29
  It was a quarter final of the FA cup and we were on top and we went off and soon as we came back on, they scored.
• 23:36
  Brian Steen scored the goal, he scored the goal.
• 23:39
  We lost one nil.
• 23:41
  But the leading up to that, the quarterfinal, we had some great results, you know.
• 23:46
  Leicester, Aston Villa, Chelsea.
• 23:49
  Chelsea.
• 23:50
  Yeah.
• 23:51
  Chelsea weigh 3 2.
• 23:52
  Leicester at home 2 nil.
• 23:54
  Villa away 1 nil.
• 23:56
  So it was, you know, we had a real, real good run at it.
• 24:00
  Good run at it.
• 24:01
  Yeah, really and, and really entertaining to watch.
• 24:03
  Would you say George Graham, how would you rate him in, in amongst the, the, the managers and the coaches?
• 24:10
  You work for Steve Best?
• 24:13
  Yes.
• 24:14
  Really?
• 24:14
  Yeah.
• 24:15
  Wow.
• 24:16
  Because, because he, if you worked, worked hard for George, he looked after you and he was, he was really, really.
• 24:26
  People said he was a bit strict and all that with players but nah, nah, he was, you know, he was just a, a great motivator.
• 24:38
  He could motivate players.
• 24:40
  He had a lovely number two with Theo Foley alongside him.
• 24:44
  Theo was great with everybody but George was a good coach.
• 24:48
  He knew how to coach.
• 24:50
  Again, he was ahead of his time.
• 24:52
  We used to work on training, on shape work.
• 24:55
  Almost four, four, two.
• 24:57
  He'd have the two wingers and me and fashion front, so get the crosses in the box and just normal.
• 25:03
  But he was organized.
• 25:05
  So organized and, you know, he took out.
• 25:07
  When he went to Arsenal, when he went to Arsenal, he organized them and got it so.
• 25:12
  So regimental in the way that they played.
• 25:15
  And that's why they were so successful and that's why we were so successful.
• 25:18
  We knew exactly what we were doing.
• 25:20
  And that's what I learned from going into management.
• 25:23
  That's where I took into management is all.
• 25:25
  All.
• 25:26
  You took a lot of his stuff.
• 25:28
  Loads of his stuff.
• 25:29
  Like just the way that he.
• 25:30
  He Just the way he was with players as well, you know, the way you are with them, the way you manage them, the way you talk to them.
• 25:39
  And it was.
• 25:40
  Yeah, I've learned a hell of a lot of George.
• 25:43
  Hell of a lot.
• 25:44
  Lovely.
• 25:45
  Lovely.
• 25:45
  When you.
• 25:46
  So I think when you was at Millwood, that was that when you got the.
• 25:49
  The call up Steve to the Welsh senior team.
• 25:53
  Yeah, yeah, I got called up a Palace.
• 25:56
  Oh, did you fall back when I was a fullback?
• 25:59
  Well, they must have had been shorter fullbacks, mate.
• 26:02
  Oh, they were in.
• 26:04
  Rubbish.
• 26:04
  There was Joey Jones.
• 26:06
  Joey Jones, who obviously has died now, but Joey, like, he was.
• 26:10
  He was a regular at the fullback.
• 26:12
  Yeah, he was.
• 26:13
  Yes, yes.
• 26:14
  And somebody.
• 26:16
  I remember being called up at the last minute to go all the way to Tbilisi on a.
• 26:23
  Well, me and Mary with my wife, we were.
• 26:25
  We were up north and we were watching match today or the big match on.
• 26:30
  On the.
• 26:30
  On the telly because we had no phones in him.
• 26:33
  There's no mobile phones.
• 26:34
  No, of course, yeah.
• 26:35
  And it came on.
• 26:36
  It came on.
• 26:37
  And whoever was presenting that match today went, right, there's a message here.
• 26:41
  We got.
• 26:41
  I've just had a message from the Welsh Football Association.
• 26:45
  If Steve Lovel is watching this program, can he get himself down to Maiden Ed as quick as possible?
• 26:53
  We're flying out to Tbilisi in the morning to travel with the Welsh team and I.
• 26:59
  Wow, I looked at.
• 27:01
  So boom, that was it in the car and off I had to go.
• 27:04
  Had to drive all the way down there and got the next flight.
• 27:09
  They had already gone, gone ahead.
• 27:11
  So I had to go and get a flight on my own to Tbilisi all the way out there and I played for two minutes.
• 27:21
  I vaguely remember that now, that.
• 27:23
  But yeah, that was a great story, wasn't it?
• 27:26
  Yeah,.
• 27:28
  Go on, mate.
• 27:30
  Yeah, no, that.
• 27:31
  That's how we happened.
• 27:32
  That's how we happened.
• 27:32
  And we lost one nil.
• 27:34
  We didn't qualify for the World Cup.
• 27:35
  But it was an experience.
• 27:37
  It was an experience.
• 27:38
  Yeah.
• 27:38
  No, I, I, I think my, my biggest memory of you playing for Wales was when you came on in that qualifier against Scotland and, like, what he gave you, like, he said, what, like when.
• 27:48
  It gave you five minutes, didn't it?
• 27:50
  Yeah, five minutes.
• 27:51
  Yeah, yeah.
• 27:52
  That was the night that Jock Steen died as well.
• 27:54
  Jock Steen died that night.
• 27:55
  Yeah.
• 27:56
  Yeah.
• 27:56
  So again, it puts things into perspective.
• 27:59
  But we, we had, we had two or three opportunities where we were, we could have qualified for the World Cup.
• 28:05
  In fact, we, we made a, we made a World cup song down there and it was funny.
• 28:13
  It was down the Old Kent Road in a, in a music.
• 28:17
  Yeah.
• 28:18
  And, and I think it was, Mike, England, the manager went, right, we're going to qualify for the World Cup.
• 28:24
  Let's go make a song.
• 28:26
  So we all went well and made this song in the, in the studio and we didn't, we got qualified, we never got there.
• 28:32
  We got knocked out.
• 28:34
  We lost to Iceland or something.
• 28:36
  So, so I don't think that was a good idea.
• 28:39
  But now that was, they were good times as well.
• 28:42
  They were good.
• 28:43
  But the Welsh team was great because, you know, to play with Mark Hughes, Ian Rush, Dean Saunders, Kevin Ratcliffe, Neville, so thought it was fantastic, you know, to be a part of them and just to be, you know,
• 28:56
  with him on a training, in the training sessions was, was great.
• 28:59
  So as a youngster, it was, it was brilliant to be around them.
• 29:03
  Yeah, I, I was telling Nico the best thing about you playing for Wales was you, you give me the car and you'd say, make sure it's clean.
• 29:10
  Make sure it's clean when I come back.
• 29:12
  So I, I had the 2000 E Cortina thinking on jolly big bollocks and then like, and then clean the motor up.
• 29:21
  And then I used to drop you at the, the airport, at the hotel and then come pick you up.
• 29:26
  But that was, that was the best thing for me because, yeah, if you remember, if I didn't have that, I had the Vauxhall Viva with the gearbox that dropped, I used to have to get out and hit it
• 29:36
  with the ammo.
• 29:37
  Oh, I know, honest.
• 29:38
  Oh, geez.
• 29:39
  I remember, I remember.
• 29:43
  I just, I just thought, I just thought of that story.
• 29:46
  And we can say this one, because this one was funny and, and it would never happen today, and that's why it's funny.
• 29:52
  We, it was a Thursday night, we went out, I think we was in Scarlets, and we went to the Kentucky Friday, remember after the Kentucky Friday, I.
• 30:02
  Remember now, I can see it now.
• 30:04
  Gary, Gary, I can see it now.
• 30:06
  When the policeman came and he's, he's knocking on the window, this copy and Steve's there, he's got his box of Kentucky Fried right?
• 30:15
  Now you've got to realize palace are in the first division at the time, which is the Premier League today.
• 30:20
  So I'm there, Steve's there, he's tucking into his Kentucky Fried Chicken.
• 30:25
  The cops banged on the window, but Steve hasn't round down the window.
• 30:29
  He's not nice.
• 30:30
  All right mate?
• 30:35
  Wasn't having it.
• 30:36
  He was like, yeah, why did we do that?
• 30:38
  He said, all right Ocifa.
• 30:39
  Like he didn't even say officer.
• 30:41
  He said it was the funniest thing.
• 30:44
  And I think, I think in the end the cop caught on and he just said, why don't you two just.
• 30:48
  Off like, you just go.
• 30:51
  But the thing was with that Gary, you, you were driving, I think, and you were driving me at the time, but I don't think you had passed your test.
• 30:58
  You were only about 16 or 17.
• 31:00
  No, I hadn't passed my test, mate.
• 31:02
  I, I didn't pass my test till.
• 31:05
  I suppose I can say that, yeah, I can say it, yeah.
• 31:07
  No, I didn't have a, I didn't even have a dog license, mate, of those days, like, let alone a car.
• 31:13
  That policeman that time, right, that was the second time that he, because he.
• 31:17
  Give us a ticket.
• 31:18
  You give you a ticket or give me a ticket or something.
• 31:20
  I remember it.
• 31:21
  And we went.
• 31:22
  That's the second one we've had today, tonight.
• 31:25
  That was just the first one.
• 31:27
  Oh, but I remember that one outside the Kentucky.
• 31:31
  I remember it, remember it so well.
• 31:32
  They, they were, they were so good.
• 31:34
  And, and of course, you know it.
• 31:38
  Yeah, of course, I mean things had to change and of course the, the fitness and the food and everything, everything, everything has changed so much.
• 31:46
  But looking back, mate, what, it just that, that, that story alone makes me cry.
• 31:53
  It's funny.
• 31:53
  Yeah, funny.
• 31:54
  It was fun, it was, it was all fun and it was, you know, it was a job.
• 32:01
  I think the money situation now, you know, back in the day, like we, all right, we played for the Premier League or League one, whatever it was, but you weren't earning like the money that they're earning now, you
• 32:12
  know, we were only like 4,500 pound a week or whatever, which is good, good money in them days.
• 32:17
  But, but it's not like the, the fifty hundred thousand pound a week that they're earning now, so we did it because we loved the game of football.
• 32:26
  We loved the game and we loved what came with it, which was with you going to the nightclubs and having a beer and everything.
• 32:35
  That's what, that's what we love.
• 32:37
  We loved about it and that, that's what we've made us be able to do that because of the football.
• 32:43
  You know, now it's gone, it's gone a bit mad now.
• 32:46
  But you can't blame the players because the end of the day people want to pay, pay them to play and, you know, and the money's out there, which is great.
• 32:54
  Which is great.
• 32:55
  Yeah, I just think, yeah, the disparity has become like.
• 32:59
  So, yeah, like you say in those days, maybe you were making four and five and you got the win bonus, but there were regular guys on maybe one and a half or something, so it was closer.
• 33:09
  But now the disparity is so far that I, I find it very difficult for the fans.
• 33:15
  I remember back in those days, the, the players and the fans, they used to be a lot closer together.
• 33:20
  They didn't used to be so mercenary.
• 33:22
  And I've had this conversation a million times and you can't listen, if you're a player and some geezer offers you like 200 a week, then you're going to take it, right?
• 33:31
  200 grand, I'm talking about, you know, I don't want it.
• 33:34
  But no, it has created a divide between the fans and, and the players, I think, you know.
• 33:39
  Yeah, and it has.
• 33:41
  Gary and I remember we used to, we used to mix with the fans after games, used to go into the, the social club or into the bar and you pint with them and talk with them.
• 33:53
  But not only that, you used to educate them.
• 33:55
  Yes, they, you know, they would say certain things in the bar and you go, no, this is the reason why we do this and this is the reason why we do it.
• 34:03
  They go, oh, so then they would pass it on to other people so when the game was going on they'd understand that.
• 34:11
  So then they wouldn't give us stick because they knew exactly what we had told them.
• 34:16
  Yeah, way to talk to, to, to fans all the time.
• 34:20
  But yeah, now you don't, you don't.
• 34:22
  Now it's, it's just especially locally now down here at Gilliam, you know, they, they, they finish a game in the car and off they go.
• 34:31
  You know, and that's, that's the saddest thing.
• 34:34
  I, you know, there's no place really like a social club where we used to have, we used to go in and mix, mix together.
• 34:42
  But you know, that's just the way that of the world, I suppose, the way it's going on.
• 34:46
  So you, you had a, you had a.
• 34:49
  I, I remember in those days as well.
• 34:51
  Like in the summer you had that little brief time at Memphis Rogues, remember playing in America.
• 34:56
  That was a great experience for you.
• 34:58
  Yeah, it was.
• 34:59
  I was, I was very young at the time.
• 35:01
  I'd gone, Terry Venables as said, go out there and, and experience that.
• 35:08
  So I would think it was 18 at the time when I went out there and I had three months, three months out there with them.
• 35:15
  Eddie McCready and Charlie Cook.
• 35:18
  Experience.
• 35:19
  Great.
• 35:19
  Yeah, it was great.
• 35:21
  You know, you have your, at 18, you have your own apartment, you have your car and they looked after you and, and it was, it was.
• 35:28
  He traveled all over America playing and playing with some of the, the great legends of, of the day, you know, like Georgie Best and Franz Buckingbauer and Rodney Marshall.
• 35:40
  Rodney Marsh was out there and Trevor Francis.
• 35:43
  So it goes on and on, but it was, it was brilliant for me.
• 35:46
  It was a great experience and I loved every moment of the, the American adventure.
• 35:52
  Fantastic.
• 35:53
  So after Millwall he was on the Jillian, right?
• 35:57
  Yeah, same thing.
• 35:58
  Up top scoring goals.
• 36:00
  Yeah, again it's a, it's a funny um, thing really that up Millwall I was top score of I think four, four the five seasons I was there and then got injured playing for Wales at the end of my
• 36:17
  contract.
• 36:18
  Come to the end of my contract, my second contract.
• 36:21
  Georgia renewed it the one before.
• 36:24
  So I had a year left of my contract and went out to Canada with Wales to play a game.
• 36:32
  And when I was out there, last game of the season out in Canada, I did my knee.
• 36:37
  I got done with cartilage in my knee.
• 36:40
  So my contract was up.
• 36:41
  I didn't have a, you know, I was on a.
• 36:43
  So John Doherty took over and obviously I was on a week to week contract.
• 36:50
  So it killed me.
• 36:50
  It killed me.
• 36:51
  George went to Arsenal.
• 36:53
  He went to Arsenal.
• 36:54
  And the funny story is, is that before I went away with Wales to Canada, George had told me before, before I went, he said, look, I'd had a golfing holiday book and he said, look, he said, you've had
• 37:10
  a tough season, go and take your golfing holiday.
• 37:13
  Have a golfing holiday.
• 37:14
  Don't go to, don't go to Wales, don't go to Canada with the West.
• 37:19
  So I'm thinking, no, George, I want to represent my country.
• 37:22
  So off I went to Canada for three weeks and when I was out there on the first week out in Canada, George gets the Arsenal job.
• 37:30
  And I always think in my mind, was he telling me like not to go because I'm, I'm gonna take you with me to Arsenal.
• 37:38
  And I've always thought that I want, I've always thought about that and I haven't had a chance to ask Georgia if that was the case because then he signed someone from Colchester who played in the same kind of
• 37:50
  role as me.
• 37:50
  Perry Groves.
• 37:51
  No,.
• 37:58
  That's the kind of player I was.
• 38:00
  And so he signed him and like from the same lower league doing that.
• 38:05
  So I never know.
• 38:06
  So anyway, I, I got injured and I spent nine months getting myself back fit and I went off to Swansea.
• 38:16
  Terry Yorith was a manager, went up to Swansea, unknown for four games, three or four games to get my fitness back again and played there, scored a couple of goals there and I was gonna go and sign for
• 38:31
  them on the Monday and Mary, my wife and the family, we would have to move down to Swansea and Mary really didn't want to go.
• 38:40
  She didn't want to move.
• 38:41
  Like kids are all settled up here and, and everything.
• 38:44
  So, funny enough, on the Sunday, Keith Peacock rang me from Gillingham and said, Steve, he said, I want you to come and sign for Gillingham.
• 38:56
  And we live five minutes from Gillingham, right?
• 39:00
  It was a dream come true, it seemed.
• 39:02
  Right.
• 39:03
  Unbelievable.
• 39:04
  So I got in the car, went back to, from Swansea, back to Gillingham, met Keith Peacock and signed at Gillingham.
• 39:13
  And we didn't have to move and we've stayed in this house ever since.
• 39:15
  We've been in this house for 44 years, so it's brilliant.
• 39:20
  Four kids and now got eight grandchildren.
• 39:23
  So it's, it's all pretty, pretty business.
• 39:26
  That's lovely.
• 39:27
  Other things work out, Gary, you know, the sliding doors syndrome, you know, and, and how our life has pushed, pushed us in that direction.
• 39:37
  Yeah, it, yeah.
• 39:39
  Swansea, though, must have meant a lot.
• 39:41
  Must have been a big tug on the old heart, though, mate, like turning down Swansea.
• 39:46
  But I guess you were settled now in Kent, right?
• 39:48
  Yeah, no, yeah, I was.
• 39:50
  And, and I think my, my wife wouldn't have married.
• 39:55
  She wasn't having it.
• 39:57
  She didn't want to go back to Swansea and to be fair, I didn't, you know, I, I, I was quite happy to, to go wherever I want to go with football and I, most probably I would have signed
• 40:06
  for Swansea on the Monday if jillinghamander come in and who knows what have happened after that.
• 40:11
  But good thing was that obviously Gillingham came in and.
• 40:15
  And I met him and signed and it was amazing.
• 40:18
  But the.
• 40:18
  The ground is actually five minutes from this house.
• 40:21
  Yeah.
• 40:23
  And you had some very good years there at Ginningham, right?
• 40:26
  Yeah, yeah, well, I was top scorer there for four years.
• 40:30
  I just.
• 40:32
  104 goals or whatever in.
• 40:34
  In four, five, four and a half years.
• 40:36
  So.
• 40:37
  And, you know, and then after that other, you know, community officer there, first team coach, assistant manager, manager.
• 40:47
  I've done everything at Gillingham for the last 20, 25 years, so it's been.
• 40:52
  It's been a club, you know, that's been more in my blood than.
• 40:56
  Than any any other club because I spent so many years there.
• 40:59
  So many years.
• 41:00
  Yeah.
• 41:00
  I wanna, I wanna.
• 41:02
  I wanna talk about your.
• 41:03
  Your management, because for me I think you've done very well when you've gone in to clubs, I think.
• 41:08
  Was it the second time, Steve?
• 41:10
  I.
• 41:10
  I could be wrong the second time.
• 41:12
  When you went in, you turned them around a lot, right?
• 41:14
  You.
• 41:15
  You got some real good results going.
• 41:17
  Did you keep them up?
• 41:18
  Was that, Was that what happened?
• 41:19
  Yeah, yeah, we did.
• 41:20
  We.
• 41:21
  We kept them up.
• 41:21
  We.
• 41:22
  The.
• 41:24
  It was really.
• 41:25
  The.
• 41:25
  The first time I went in as a temporary manager, it was four of us.
• 41:31
  We were called the.
• 41:32
  The gang of four and there's four coaches that we.
• 41:35
  We took over from Peter Taylor and we were asked to do it, so we went and did it and I was the, the lead one, if you like.
• 41:44
  So we.
• 41:44
  We did well there and we were.
• 41:47
  What, we wanted to stay in the job because we were.
• 41:50
  We had a good run of results, but then the chairman, Paul Scally, said that he'd want somebody else to come in.
• 41:58
  So we interviewed for the jobs and.
• 42:00
  And Justin Edinburgh got the job.
• 42:03
  Yeah, Justin come in, unfortunately, passed away in the last three or four years, but he.
• 42:11
  He came.
• 42:12
  He came in and did a good job and, and everything, but then he left.
• 42:18
  And then I, I went there as a.
• 42:21
  As an assistant to Eddie Pennock and then assistant to Peter Taylor and then Peter left and the chairman rung me up and said, look, Peter Taylor's left.
• 42:37
  Can you do the, the game on Saturday when you're playing Peterborough?
• 42:40
  We were bottom of the league, bottom of League One at the time, right.
• 42:45
  We were playing Peterborough way on the Saturday.
• 42:47
  He said, can you come in and just come in, or can you do the job until we get a new manager there?
• 42:55
  Of course.
• 42:56
  Of course.
• 42:56
  We got.
• 42:56
  So obviously every.
• 42:58
  I.
• 42:58
  I took over, named the team, did the training, changed a few bits and Bobs we won one nil at Peterborough.
• 43:05
  Played Wigan on the Tuesday, drew to all the next Saturday we went to Rotherham and beat them 3:1.
• 43:12
  So now we're on a roll.
• 43:14
  So the chairman said you can, you can keep the job till the end of the season.
• 43:18
  You keep us up and then we'll see how we go.
• 43:21
  So we did, we kept him up.
• 43:23
  We went from the bottom.
• 43:24
  We finished 17.
• 43:26
  So then he offered me a three year deal which I signed and then the next year we, we finished 14th and then the year after that we finished 11th.
• 43:40
  We were 11th in the table there.
• 43:42
  Two games to go and he wanted to bring someone in as a director of football, which I didn't, I didn't like and I didn't want a director of football, so I decided to call it a day and unfortunately
• 43:56
  I loved it.
• 43:57
  You know, I loved, I loved that Gillingham and I was disappointed to leave, but I, I, I couldn't work with someone I didn't want to work with, so I left.
• 44:09
  And yeah, and I know you were very passionate about it and you are very passionate about managing as you was about your plane.
• 44:16
  What the two roles, Steve, I mean, they're very different obviously, but what do you, looking back, what do you, do you prefer, did you prefer playing, managing or are they both two different, very different skills?
• 44:30
  I, I think when you're, when you're playing, you're actually not thinking about management, obviously, you're just playing.
• 44:37
  But when you're a manager, you can look back and go, well, I really enjoy playing.
• 44:42
  But this management role is something different.
• 44:45
  And it is because I most probably, as a, as a, as a footballer, I think most footballers are very selfish as footballers, not as people, whereas footballers, because all you, all you're worried about is yourself on the football
• 44:58
  field.
• 44:58
  You know, you score a goal on the Saturday and you lose 2:1, you're not as disappointed as if you've lost 2:1 and you haven't scored.
• 45:07
  So, you know, it's a funny, it's a funny one, but when you're a manager, you take the result and you get so much, I get so much out of a result as a manager than I would as a
• 45:18
  player because it's an individual thing.
• 45:21
  I could score a hat trick in a game and lose four three and I'd go out and have a drink at the night and be happy as a manager.
• 45:26
  You lost four three.
• 45:28
  Mary will come speak to me for two days, you know, until I go to work again on the Monday.
• 45:32
  Because you're disappointed.
• 45:33
  So it sort of reflects on you as a, as an individual and you take it all on board a lot more, I think.
• 45:40
  And when you win as a manager, honestly, I'm lovely for the weekend and, you know, I'm happy and until the next game, but it, it's, it's all about emotions and they run up and down all the way through,
• 45:52
  all the way through the career.
• 45:53
  Different ones.
• 45:53
  Different ones.
• 45:54
  Yeah.
• 45:55
  I, I, I think, I think every ex player I've ever seen or interviewed, they've all said the same thing.
• 46:01
  Like the feeling of a, a win as a manager, you, you, there's nothing like it, you know.
• 46:07
  No, there's nothing like it.
• 46:08
  No, no, it's not.
• 46:09
  And you look at the, the managers now, you know, Carrick and people like that and even watch Michael Carrick when he played, he would, he'd score a goal, but he wouldn't be that excited.
• 46:20
  You look at him now, the game of manager, you know, they're related.
• 46:23
  Look at the managers they like.
• 46:25
  And these, these managers who have played have done so many great things in their careers as players, but it's nothing like getting, you know, as a manager, you know, getting winning something as a manager, winning, you know, you
• 46:38
  look a pet, you know what he's done.
• 46:40
  The feeling he must have every, every season of winning something or winning the league.
• 46:45
  Yeah.
• 46:46
  So Alex Ferguson, you know, you know, the relation they must get out of.
• 46:50
  Yeah.
• 46:51
  Being the best, being the best.
• 46:54
  It must have a tremendous feeling.
• 46:55
  Tremendous feeling.
• 46:56
  Yeah.
• 46:57
  Now Frank keeps coming back and what he's done at commentary, like, you could tell it really means something to him.
• 47:02
  Yeah, yeah, it does because it's, it's a, it's a massive thing on your shoulders.
• 47:08
  You know, you're controlling a group of people.
• 47:10
  That is hard to keep everybody happy, as you, as you said earlier on, and it is hard to keep everybody happy.
• 47:17
  But if you, if you do the best that you can to keep everybody happy, then they will help you back and that's why you're successful.
• 47:25
  You're a good man management.
• 47:26
  You're a good man manager, you're going to be successful.
• 47:29
  If you're a bad man manager, you've got no chance.
• 47:31
  Because that's why I think a lot of these, perhaps managers who will get sucked very quickly most probably don't put into their, their personality isn't, isn't the right for that kind of job.
• 47:46
  You have to be, you've got to be like, try to be liked by everybody and it's difficult.
• 47:51
  Agree.
• 47:51
  Agree.
• 47:52
  Well, you've either you've either got to be liked or you've got to have 100 win record.
• 47:57
  Probably chances are you're better off getting.
• 48:00
  Yeah, so it's a tough one, but yeah, you're probably better off getting light.
• 48:05
  Yeah.
• 48:05
  I'm going to talk about your other passion now, which is which maybe people don't know, but I certainly do know you're golfing, mate, because you're pretty good at the golf, aren't you?
• 48:16
  Yeah, you know, I don't blow my own trumpets, but yeah, I've been playing for a long time, Gary, as you know, and I play quite a lot.
• 48:27
  I play like quite a lot of golf and.
• 48:30
  Yeah.
• 48:30
  What you want now?
• 48:32
  Well, I'm going up.
• 48:34
  I've gone up now.
• 48:35
  I've gone up to 3.6.
• 48:37
  Now I'm 3.6, which is.
• 48:41
  Yeah, I was down to.
• 48:43
  Well, two years ago.
• 48:44
  I was plus one.
• 48:46
  And now this new handicap system which has come in is.
• 48:50
  It means your handicap fluctuates.
• 48:52
  It's up and down all over the place.
• 48:53
  Oh, okay.
• 48:55
  I'm up to 3.6 or 3.8 at the moment, so.
• 49:00
  But it could change.
• 49:01
  You can have two or three rounds and then you go down to two and a few more good rounds you can go down to one.
• 49:07
  But I, I'm, I just enjoy the competition and, you know, the higher the handicap you are, the more chance you've got winning something as well, because it's quite hard.
• 49:17
  Did you with the old, with the old handicap system was you office, you was off of scratch, so.
• 49:23
  No, you've never been off scratch?
• 49:26
  Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was off scratch.
• 49:28
  I'm plus one.
• 49:28
  I was plus one, which is the other way.
• 49:31
  So I was one better than.
• 49:33
  Wow.
• 49:34
  Yeah, but that was, that was with the old system and when the new system comes in, it's, it's quite hard to stay because you've got, it's a.
• 49:45
  Out of 20 scores, your best eight count.
• 49:48
  So you've got to make sure that you're really, your eight scores are, are really good.
• 49:53
  And it's quite hard when you're low handicap.
• 49:55
  You can't, you can't.
• 49:56
  You've got to be on it all the time.
• 49:58
  It's very hard to, to keep that level.
• 50:00
  But like.
• 50:02
  So that's why I play every day to practice to make sure.
• 50:06
  Well, that's what you tell Mary anyway.
• 50:09
  Yeah, you're, you're, you've won a few pro ams too, and you, you've won a few tournaments, Steve, where you go.
• 50:16
  Yeah, yeah.
• 50:17
  Like, Terry Mancini runs the.
• 50:20
  The Ex Professional Footballers Classic every year in La Manga.
• 50:25
  It's been going for 26 years now, so I've been going out there for the last 18 of them.
• 50:31
  Wow.
• 50:31
  So, yeah, I won two of them.
• 50:34
  I've come second five times and third four times.
• 50:38
  And so.
• 50:39
  But that's a great crack as well, Gary, because you're with.
• 50:41
  You're with all exp.
• 50:43
  Ex Professional footballers.
• 50:44
  You know, that's.
• 50:46
  You know, you got Russell Osman and you got.
• 50:50
  Where Paul Jewel.
• 50:52
  You've got all these.
• 50:53
  All these lads.
• 50:54
  You know, Lee Henry's out there and, you know, you got.
• 50:57
  It's a great bunch of.
• 50:59
  You play with Teddy sometimes, didn't you?
• 51:01
  You play with Ted sometimes?
• 51:03
  Yeah, I do.
• 51:03
  And Razor.
• 51:05
  Razor rudder.
• 51:06
  Play with Razor.
• 51:07
  Razor lives.
• 51:08
  I see see Razor quite a lot.
• 51:10
  He's down here.
• 51:11
  He lives in Kent with us.
• 51:12
  But, yeah, Teddy.
• 51:13
  I play with Teddy a bit.
• 51:15
  Fantastic.
• 51:16
  Yeah.
• 51:17
  But we all.
• 51:17
  We all love old golf.
• 51:18
  And I was up.
• 51:20
  I was with Terry on Terry Mancini.
• 51:22
  On Friday, we played up at Walton Heath and it was quite a few players there.
• 51:27
  Alan Kirby was there and it was.
• 51:32
  Steve said, that's great for you, though, mate.
• 51:33
  Right.
• 51:34
  You're doing something you love.
• 51:35
  You're having the banter, you know, because as you.
• 51:38
  You know, it's all about that, really.
• 51:39
  Right.
• 51:39
  It's having the.
• 51:40
  Having a laugh.
• 51:41
  It is.
• 51:41
  It is.
• 51:42
  I think my most.
• 51:44
  I think my most memorable golfing.
• 51:46
  As you know, I wasn't that great at golf, but my most memorable golfing story with you was when we went to Mitchum and you boys all had your clubs, and I think I might have been caddying or just
• 51:57
  eating the ball off the fairway because I was no good.
• 51:59
  And in the end, I just decided to have the golf club, the.
• 52:03
  The bag, and I painted it with emotion.
• 52:10
  I just found a tin of paint.
• 52:11
  I said, I don't do that.
• 52:13
  That'd be my bag.
• 52:14
  I probably still got that bag in my store.
• 52:16
  Remember, that was a.
• 52:18
  Because.
• 52:19
  Because you said, how you gonna do that?
• 52:21
  I said, I'll paint it.
• 52:23
  But that's.
• 52:23
  That's the time.
• 52:24
  See, we used to go.
• 52:25
  We used to finish training and then get our clubs and jump on a bus and go to Mitchum and play.
• 52:31
  And play golf.
• 52:32
  You know, that's.
• 52:32
  Yeah, that's when it started.
• 52:34
  And that's where, you know, Peter Nickel, it was Dave Fry, it was myself.
• 52:39
  It was a few of us who just.
• 52:41
  Paul Waddington.
• 52:42
  I remember Gary Lowe.
• 52:43
  There was a lot of us who just loved going out and just having a game of golf.
• 52:48
  But, but a lot of people then, you know, they, they came off that and, but I, I kept with it and it's funny.
• 52:56
  Populars do play golf, Gary, you know.
• 52:58
  Yeah, they do, yeah.
• 53:00
  You get the thing, you get the time to do it.
• 53:03
  Yeah, well, but back then it was like a game of golf or a game of snooker.
• 53:07
  Remember we used to have a game of snooker now and again?
• 53:13
  Yeah, yeah, we gave a snooker with Spider and Silky and all them.
• 53:18
  Yeah, we used to play, we used to play.
• 53:20
  Mate.
• 53:21
  What, what, what?
• 53:22
  What?
• 53:23
  Great, great memories and, and, and you know Steve, if I, if I, you know sitting here with you now and I, I'm really had an in depth conversation with you for a while and mate, they were great memories
• 53:33
  and looking back, you know, you, you had a lovely career, Steve, you really did.
• 53:37
  And hopefully, hopefully it, it goes on and hopefully you still carry on.
• 53:41
  A little bit of management.
• 53:42
  Who knows?
• 53:43
  Who knows?
• 53:43
  Yeah, you know.
• 53:44
  No, I've enjoyed, I've enjoyed the management as well in the non league game, I must admit.
• 53:49
  Yes.
• 53:49
  You know the semi professional.
• 53:51
  I like the people, the people work so hard at that football club to make it work and they're, they're really dedicated to making the club work.
• 54:02
  Not, but not making money.
• 54:04
  And you know, that's what I like about it is it's a very honest, honest place to be.
• 54:10
  Very honest place to be.
• 54:11
  And that's why I've done it for the last, I don't know, last 10 years mostly since I've more than that really.
• 54:20
  But the non league, an only game.
• 54:22
  My son Mark, he's, he's.
• 54:24
  He comes as my assistant.
• 54:27
  He's been my assistant last so.
• 54:31
  And you know he's, he's, he's played, he played at Chillingham and played with me and when I was managing through the non league so he's always.
• 54:39
  So he understands again got his coaching badges and.
• 54:42
  No, it's.
• 54:44
  Yeah, I still, I still, you know, it's in your blood, Gary, as you know, it's.
• 54:48
  You never forget football.
• 54:49
  I always watch it.
• 54:50
  I'll be watching the game tonight, Evan.
• 54:52
  Man city.
• 54:53
  Watching that, looking forward to it and just love it.
• 54:56
  I just love the people, people that you've met along the way yourself and loads of other people and memories.
• 55:02
  You know, it's, it's a great industry to be in.
• 55:05
  It's a great industry to be.
• 55:07
  It was, I don't know now because I'm not in that kind of industry.
• 55:12
  As, as, like when we were there, we were in, as you said, League 1, which is the Premier League.
• 55:17
  You know that that is a long way away from where, where we were.
• 55:21
  I know, but, but still, we still had the good times.
• 55:27
  Yeah.
• 55:28
  Yeah.
• 55:29
  Steve, mate, it's been an absolute pleasure having you on.
• 55:32
  I, I, I really appreciate and thank you for your time.
• 55:35
  I know you got a million things going on and I really do appreciate your time.
• 55:40
  Steve.
• 55:41
  Thanks, mate, for coming on and yeah, hopefully we'll do it again soon.