Five Fantastic Stories From Steve Guppy's Podcast Episode
The Hampshire-born wing-wizard, who won the League Cup with Leicester City in 2000, sat down alongside co-hosts and fellow former Foxes stars Gerry Taggart and Matt Elliott to discuss a career which continues to this day as assistant coach for Nashville SC in the MLS.
During Guppy's recent visit back to the UK, the former team-mates spent over an hour inside the media room at King Power Stadium, reminiscing about some memorable times in the Club's history, with ex-England international Guppy providing a fascinating insight into how he progressed as a player and coach.
Available monthly on Spotify, iTunes, LCFC.com and YouTube, Leicester's The Place includes feature-length conversations with some of the most celebrated figures in the Club's history.
On the previous episode, German centre-back Robert Huth mentioned working for José Mourinho at Chelsea, Gareth Southgate's managerial techniques at Middlesbrough, his magnificent header at Tottenham Hotspur in 2016, that party at Jamie Vardy's place and City's UEFA Champions League run – and much more.
Following Guppy's appearance, meanwhile, take a look at some of the interesting stories from their chat...
‘I worked on a building site’ – Guppy’s break from football
“I actually stopped playing football at 16 and I did not kick a ball for two years. The pressure of trying to get into Southampton’s academy and being very young, mentally as well as physically, it was probably too much for me. I went fishing and I caught a lot of carp! I worked on a building site - I’m a qualified bricklayer, I went to college to get that. The only reason I started playing again was because all my schoolmates started up a Sunday afternoon team down in Southampton. By that time, I’d shot up and all my pace had come back, and it just started clicking again.”
‘I remember not doing the warm-up because my knee was blowing up’ – Reaching the League Cup Final
“Playing in the cup final is obviously your dream but the journey to get there was very special and I think we all talk about the Aston Villa game as an incredible game… not for the performance, because we didn’t play particularly well, but we were really struggling with injuries and Matt [Elliott] was playing up front. I was due to have a knee operation and I remember not even doing the warm-up before (the second leg) because my knee was blowing up. When we beat them (Villa) at Filbert Street to get to the final, it was a great memory. To achieve it, having been cup-tied for the Middlesbrough game (the final in 1997), for us to get there, it was phenomenal really.”
‘I was in shock’ – His England call-up
“It was one of those moments in life where you remember where you were when it happened. I remember finishing training; I’m driving home and the phone rang. It was John Robinson. He said: ‘You’re in the England squad’. My first sentence was: ‘Is Muzzy [Izzet] as well?’ I think I was in shock. At the time, me, him and Emile [Heskey] were being pushed for England. It (the England cap) is in a loft somewhere; I need to find it! I will be digging it out. I was a bit disappointed though, I thought when you get it, the Queen gives it to you or something like that back in the day, but I got it through the post.”
‘It was amazing’ - Meeting Obama in the White House
“When we won the MLS Cup (with Colorado Rapids), they don’t just give you medals, you get a ring. It was actually really cool but it’s just too big [to wear]. You go to the White House and [President Barack] Obama presented every player and coaching staff member with this ring. It was amazing. He took time to shake everyone’s hand and say congratulations. There was a live broadcast going out around America where he talked about the team. Then we went out onto the White House Lawn; there were a lot of servicemen and we put on a coaching session and had a little kickabout. You look around and you see all the snipers on the roof.”
‘Those memories will stay with me forever’ – Coaching Republic of Ireland at EURO 2016
“We had a special forces guy who was pretending to be in the squad (because of the security situation at the time). He got on the bus with us with his washbag, but he had grenades in it and a gun. He had a jacket on and looked like one of the players in case it all went badly. We drew with Sweden at Stade de France, got smashed by Belgium and then it all came to the final game against Italy. We had to win to qualify for the next round and it was a famous 1-0 win. When it’s your country, it means so much to the players. A lot of them were crying. I remember thinking: ‘This is another level’. Those memories will stay with me forever, it was an absolutely incredible experience.”
Watch the full podcast...
Steve Guppy | Meeting Barack Obama! | Leicester's The Place
Episode two of Leicester's The Place – hosted by Foxes icons Matt Elliott and Gerry Taggart – welcomes Steve Guppy as the latest guest on this new podcast series.