Latest news with #Euro96
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Gazza looks better than ever as he shares feelings that 'run riot' in his life
Once described as the most gifted English footballer of all time, Paul Gascoigne - aka Gazza - is 58 and looking fantastic. And he tells The Mirror he wants people to get to know 'the real me' Looking like a man at the top of his game, as he poses for an exclusive photoshoot, Gazza says: 'I feel better now than I have in years.' Once described as the most gifted English footballer of all time, now 58 and looking fantastic, he tells The Mirror: 'I hope I am at a point that I can really look back over everything I've gone through in my life with a different - and more positive - perspective. After so many years in the spotlight, I feel like it's time people got to know the real me.' Speaking ahead of his new book Eight being released by Mirror Books in the autumn, he has named it after the number 8 shirt he famously wore for England for Euro 96, as well as for Spurs. Eight, he reveals, also relates to the eight emotions he says have 'run riot through my life…sometimes all in the same afternoon!' The book promises to give the real story behind some of the more infamous events in the life of the Spurs, Rangers, Middlesbrough and England champion - from the drinking, to living with bipolar and his bizarre involvement in the hunt for killer his bizarre involvement in the hunt for Raoul Moat. Gazza, who recently appeared on a video tribute to Gary Lineker, when he bowed out as host of Match of the Day, thanked his former England and Spurs teammate for being there during his tougher times and hoped they would go 'gallivanting' together, now he has more free time. Gazza's well-documented addiction problems in the past have led to a series of arrests for drunk and disorderly and drink-drive offences. And his marriage to Sheryl Gascoigne in 1996 was dogged by allegations of domestic violence. But, despite their divorce in 1998, she has written about her ongoing attempts to help him. Coming 20 years after his autobiography My Story in 2005, Gazza feels that in Eight, he shows he now has a better grasp of what was happening to him during his rollercoaster life journey. Billed as 'Paul Gascoigne as never before,' if his story is anywhere near as showstopping as his new pictures, then it will be a riveting read. 'Gazza's looking better than ever - he was one of the heroes of my youth' Mirror photographer Rowan Griffiths photographed his footballing hero Gazza for the first time two weeks ago and says: 'He looks fantastic.' Meeting at a hotel in Didcot, Oxfordshire, Rowan says: 'Gazza knows how to hold the room. He was very genuine, asking how we all were. He was doing a speaking tour and seemed very well. I was so relieved to see him looking so good, as I was a fan from way back in the day myself. He was one of the heroes of my youth.' Rowan, who has been a Mirror photographer since 2003, reminisced with Gazza about the World Cup game against the then Czechoslovakia in 1990, when he scored one of the goals that bagged England a 4-2 win. 'I went to the Czech game,' says Rowan. 'Gazza recalled every detail of that game to me. Someone else asked if he remembered every game and he said yes he did. It's amazing to have that recall.' Disclosing that he has swapped hotel stays for Airbnbs when he is on speaking tours, so he has greater autonomy, when Rowan asked how he was feeling, Gazza said: 'I'm great.' While looking brilliant and posing like a consummate professional, Rowan says: 'He still likes a typical Gazza joke. We would be doing some serious portraits and the next thing, he was doing a ballerina pose! That's Gazza for you!'
Daily Mail
27-04-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
From pole to dole: How Lewis Hamilton joined Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Jamie Carragher to become the latest British sports star to flop in the cut-throat culinary world as his restaurant chain goes bust
Formula 1 legend Sir Lewis Hamilton has become the latest sports star to have his fingers burnt when venturing into the food and drink trade. The seven-time world champion, 40, has been forced to shut down some of his vegan burger restaurants, it was revealed this week. Hamilton launched the move into '100 per cent plant-based meals' alongside film star Leonardo DiCaprio back in 2019 - but they are now closing their London branches after suffering annual losses of almost £8million. He is in esteemed company, however, alongside other sporting high performers who have invested in restaurants only to face difficulties. Thee include Manchester United legends Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs, as well as ex-Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher. Yet others appear to have been more successful with their hospitality brands still up and running - including those linked with ex-Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid and Wales star Gareth Bale and former Germany international striker Lukas Podolski. There was also an attempt in the mid-Nineties to make a success a themed restaurant in central London called Football Football, with a celebrity-packed launch - only for tragedy to hit on the eve of the Euro 96 final at Wembley. The closures now announced by Sir Lewis's Neat Burgers firm include not only their branches in the UK capital but also one shop in New York. The firm said in a statement: 'We are concentrating our efforts on our best performing restaurants — we believe that sometimes taking a step back is necessary to make a bigger leap forward'. Ex-Premier League stars Gary Neville (left) and Ryan Giggs (right) backed a venture called Cafe Football - pictured at Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, east London, in November 2013 Neville, now a regular Sky Sports pundit alongside ex-Three Lions teammate Carragher, has explored ventures in hotels and restaurants to property and digital marketing - helping net him millions of pounds. But new details emerged last November about how he had to close the doors on a fifth restaurant with £1million debts. The closure of The Man Behind The Curtain, a Michelin-starred venue in Leeds, was not the first time Neville has seen a restaurant founder. That outlet, originally launched in 2014, was run by Masterchef star Michael O'Hare, with Neville owning 50 per cent. The restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in October 2015, as well as three AA Rosettes in 2016 and attracted investment from Neville. After opening, it gained a reputation for modern but unique dishes including olives wrapped in edible cellophane, salt and vinegar ox cheek, and chocolate pudding and pork rinds. But it closed its doors at the end of 2023 and O'Hare has since opened a new restaurant in the city called Psycho Sandbar. Companies House documents recently showed how Neville's company Relentless Leisure was owed £366,848. The accounts for 2023 were overdue, but those for 2022 reported a profit of £187,000 and reserves of £105,938, the Sun reported. Neville and his former Manchester United colleague Giggs had previously invested in a Manchester venue called The Rabbit in the Moon before it closed in 2017. The Class of 92 duo had teamed up with O'Hare again after making him the creative director of GG Hospitality in 2016 - with the statd aim of running a modern Asian restaurant in Manchester, but it shut its doors after a year. The menu boasted options including fried calf brains, crispy rabbit ears and an octopus hot dog, while located on the top two floors of Urbis, a six-storey building on the city's Exchange Square. It was dubbed by one food critic as the 'most bonkers restaurant' they had ever reviewed. But the space-themed restaurant closed in 2018 after GG Hospitality reported significant losses to shareholders. GG Hospitality also struggled to make ends meet in 2019, having to close two of its Neville-backed Cafe Football sites after six years. The venue was initially based in a huge space in the Westfield shopping centre at Stratford in east London. Customers at its Westfield shopping centre venue in Stratford, east London, that opened in 2013 were offered a selection of 'Fans' Favourites' - ranging from pie, mash and liquor to chilli with steamed rice and soured cream. Following its early success, Neville and Giggs then decided to open a second venue in Manchester - but that closed in March 2019. The two venues were both shut that year after GG Hospitality decided to shift its focus into the company's hotel businesses. At the time, Neville admitted: 'They were decisions made by me while Ryan has been coaching - but we all learn, don't we?' A third venue is still open in Singapore, but it is operating through a different company. A smaller version of Cafe Football has opened inside Neville's Hotel Football, which overlooks Manchester United's stadium, Old Trafford. Yet a restaurant inside Neville's Stock Exchange Hotel in Manchester closed just four months after opening its doors, having earlier replaced celebrity chef Tom Kerridge's Bull and Bear restaurant. The Stock Market Grill released a statement last July saying it had decided to 'close the doors to Stock Market Grill' with immediate effect. The restaurant was not run by Neville but by the people owning hotel's cocktail bar, Sterling. It was revealed just last month how a restaurant owned by ex-Wales and United star Giggs in Worsley, Greater Manchester, closed with immediate effect after amassing six-figure debts. George's Dining Room and Bar was opened by the former Reds star and two old schoolmates back in 2014, but shut at the end of January. Customers had been left confused by the abrupt closure as they arrived at the restaurant only to be met by a sign on the door which stated it was shut 'due to unforeseen circumstances'. The company set up by Giggs and his school friends, Kelvin Gregory and Bernie Taylor, was liquidated. Customers had initially been told George's would be closed for an entire weekend, but texts that had earlier been sent to staff when the restaurant shut contradicted this. In the messages, staff were told that management 'regret to announce that with a heavy heart we have no alternative but to close George's effective immediately'. The firm went on to say: 'This is due to the obvious reduction in trade and business against the huge increases in costs of operating the business and the ongoing cost of living crisis.' When opening the venue back in 2014, Giggs told media: 'We've known each other for 30 years and we always said it would be great to do something like this together. 'We're all local lads and have lived in this area all our lives so we wanted to do something in Worsley and we think we've got a really different offering for the area.' The launch event for the restaurant was attended by a host of Giggs' former Manchester United teammates including Neville, Bryan Robson and Nicky Butt. Elsewhere, former Liverpool centre-back Carragher was reportedly left £100,000 out of pocket after the closures in 2013 of two Liverpool bars and restaurants in which he had involvement. The Cafe Sport England business, co-owned by the Flanagan Group, went into voluntary liquidation, the Liverpool Echo reported. While Carragher did not want to comment, the group's managing director Paul Flanagan was quoted at the time as saying: 'All our staff were paid and all our suppliers are still trading with us. Unfortunately it didn't work. It's horrible. We did everything we could.' Another former Liverpool player to take a hit in the restaurant trade was ex-England striker Emile Heskey, who co-founded a celebrity bar and restaurant in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, that was wound up by the courts with £163,000 debts in 2023. Documents lodged at Companies House showed that a winding-up order was served on May 30 that year, spelling the end for the venue Parea that had opened in 2018. It was closed earlier in 2023 after a local catering company applied to have the company wound up over unpaid debts, having previously been a regular haunt of footballers and TV stars including those appearing on Real Housewives Of Cheshire. Co-owner James Golden told the Manchester Evening News: 'We closed the bar as our lease was up for renewal and the village had gone very quiet. We have recently launched in Liverpool and are opening in Spinningfields shortly.' Meanwhile, former Premier League winner and ex-England international Danny Drinkwater had to close his restaurant after the business was unable to agree a successful lease renewal. The ex-midfielder, who won the title with Leicester City in 2016 before later joining Chelsea, owned a 70 per cent stake in the restaurant Firefly Manchester. He posted a statement on Instagram saying: 'It's with a heavy heart that Firefly Manchester will close its doors at One New Bailey after unsuccessful lease renewal negotiations with the landlord. 'We have explored various alternatives and potential relocation options but unfortunately, none were viable within the given timeframe. 'We would like to express our deepest gratitude to our dedicated staff and loyal customers for their unwavering support over the years and for making Firefly such a prominent part of the Manchester nightlife scene.' The former Premier League winner wrote on Instagram about Firefly's end He previously opened the Manchester eatery FoodWell in 2018, but the restaurant went bust in 2022 after amassing £2million in debts. Drinkwater has said: 'Was great whilst it lasted. Thanks, everyone.' Other sporting stars have seen their hospitality outlets keep going, however. Bale, whose five Champions League titles with Real Madrid are a record for a British footballer, owns Elevens Bar and Grill in his native Cardiff, the Welsh capital. The venue claims on its website of 'offering the best sports viewing experience in Cardiff city centre; boasting 20 4K HD TV's and complete surround sound for that stadium atmosphere'. The outlet opened in May 2017, as a partnership between Bale and Brains Brewery, before going independent four years later. A message from Bale that remains on the Elevens website states: 'In a few short years we managed to create something special and unique with Brains: a premium sports bar and grill in the heart of Cardiff. 'We really enjoyed working with them, but it's time to look ahead, and it's exciting to be taking Elevens forward as an independent venue.' Meanwhile, Germany's 2014 World Cup-winning forward Podolski - a former London rival of Bale's, when playing for Arsenal - has achieved success back in his homeland as a restaurant entrepreneur. Podolski, 39, now playing for Polish club Górnik Zabrze, is said to be to worth £177.5million after building a business empire aside from football. That includes a chain of kebab shops and an ice cream brand in his native Germany. Podolski first launched his dessert brand Ice Cream United in 2017, two years after leaving Arsenal. The company was founded in Cologne, the home of Podolski's first professional club. A year later, his first Mangal Doner kebab shop opened in the city and now consists of about 30 branches across Germany. Podolski told German magazine 11 Freunde: 'Other folks head to the golfing course after training, and just hang around there all-day long. 'I sell ice cream, Kebab and clothing, have fun and everyone can take something home. 'I back this project 100 per cent, and will help where I can help. I want to continue developing this project. I always put my foot to the floor.' And speaking to the Mail last May, the attacker said: 'I started this business six years ago and we want to make it big. I'm not living to just train, sleep and watch Netflix. 'These days, nobody wants to work. Everyone dreams of becoming a social media star or a YouTuber. That's why more and more bakeries are closing. Nobody wants to get up in the morning and do the dirty work.' Two more former Gunners Brian Marwood and Lee Dixon were among the diners at mid-Nineties enterprise Football Football, a sporting memorabilia-displaying restaurant on central London's Haymarket near Piccadilly Circus. Customers were greeted by a hologram of then-England head coach Terry Venables, at the venue which is now the home of a cabaret club. The Football Football project was led by ex-Fulham and Queens Park Rangers player Bobby Keetch while also being backed by the the Professional Footballers' Association and brewing firm Allied Domecq. The restaurant had a celebrity-studded launch ahead of England hosting Euro 96, hosted by England, with guests including 1966 World Cup winners Sir Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters and Gordon Banks. Also there were Manchester United and Northern Ireland hero George Best and comedians Frank Skinner and David Baddiel, then riding high with their TV show Fantasy Football. Keetch died aged 54, after suffering a stroke, on June 29 1996 - the day before that summer's European Championship final at Wembley in which Germany beat the Czech Republic, having knocked England out in the semi-finals. And his family later said they struggled to attract enough football stars turning up out of choice. Announcing the outlet's closure in December 1998, Allied Domecq said it 'no longer complements our long-term vision'. Keetch's nephew Karl Thomas, who worked for the restaurant, was quoted at the time as saying: 'We thought we would have soccer stars in every week. 'But we had to pay for personal appearances, which wasn't the idea at the start at all. 'Allied Domecq felt we didn't fit into their portfolio. But they never gave us as much support as I would have liked.' Even the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Rafael Nadal have experienced setbacks, away from their sporting arenas, when stepping into the restaurant world. Last month the Madrid-based Italian eatery Toto, backed by the football and tennis icons, abruptly closed down after just three years. But more successful in Spain has been ex-Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Republic of Ireland full-back Stephen Carr who has been involved with a chain of bars, restaurants and nightclubs in Marbella. He previously said: 'From day one when we opened La Sala it has been excellent and it has just got better and better. 'Now we've opened another in San Pedro and hopefully the success will continue. 'You know the formula is working when clients are waiting up to four weeks for a reservation and we are being visited by the likes of Sir Alan Sugar, Eva Longoria and Jamie Oliver.' He told Spurs' official website in 2022: 'Coaching never entered my mind. Instead, I moved to Spain straight away because I'm involved in restaurants and a beach club over there. 'I thought I'd go there, it'd be a different experience. I had the freedom that I could do that. 'The hospitality industry is obviously different to football in that you're not going in with a group of lads to train, you're training on your own, but I never thought of it like that. 'I saw it as, "Your time's up, you need to go, move on to whatever next you're going to do in your life".' With news emerging this week of the Sir Lewis-backed Neat Burgers branches closing, the ownership firm said: 'We have no further comment at this time, other than to confirm that the business has taken the difficult decision to close its UK restaurants.' About 150 members of staff are expected to lose their jobs. Sir Lewis became vegan back in 2017 and has since pushed for 'healthier' food options for consumers. He has said: 'I believe we need a healthier high street option that tastes amazing and offers something exciting to those who want to be meat-free every now and again.'
New York Times
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Welcome to England, Thomas Tuchel – where Germans can still be subjected to infantile innuendo
By now, most people will have seen the video. They will have heard Harry Redknapp describe Thomas Tuchel as a 'German spy' and then, in front of an audience in London last week, say that Tuchel 'has been sent over to f*** us up'. 'I'm telling you,' Redknapp continues, 'he's like Lord Haw-Haw in the war — 'We have your best soldiers captured' and all that.' Advertisement It is an appalling attempt at a joke. Lord Haw-Haw was better known as William Joyce, a virulent antisemite who was once deputy leader of the British Union of Fascists. Joyce spent the Second World War broadcasting Nazi propaganda back to Great Britain from Germany before being captured, tried for treason and hanged in 1946. In the video, first published by The Guardian, Redknapp is also seen raising his left arm, prompting a burst of laughter from the audience. When contacted by The Athletic, Redknapp denied that this was intended to mimic a Nazi salute. The defence is on its way — the 'bore off and stop ruining the fun' response. And it probably is too crass to be offensive. It's too ignorant to be taken seriously. It's not worthy of anything other than weary disdain, or of provoking more than toe-curling embarrassment. The video has yet to surface in the German media. When it inevitably does, what Redknapp said and appears to do will make England look very, very small. As will the guffawing reaction heard in the background which describes how, for some, the German bogeyman remains alive, hilarious and a proxy for a war that ended 80 years ago. It's been 50 years since Episode Six of Fawlty Towers aired, in October 1975. In it, for those who do not know, shambolic Torquay hotelier Basil Fawlty welcomes a group of German guests. He begins the episode determined not to 'mention the war' and by the end of it has goose-stepped across his own dining room while they are eating in front of him. In Britain, it remains a beloved episode within a cherished series. The joke is on Basil, though. The audience is laughing at him for his inability to disassociate with a war that, by then, had already been over for three decades. By 1996, 51 years had passed and yet, on the morning of England's Euro 96 semi-final against Germany, the Daily Mirror — then edited by Piers Morgan — superimposed pictures of Stuart Pearce and Paul Gascoigne with military helmets, printing them on its front page alongside the headline: 'Achtung! Surrender! For you Fritz, ze Euro 96 Championship is over!' Advertisement To the side, in an editorial sidebar, The Mirror then 'declared football war' on Germany, writing, with a cringeworthy reference to Neville Chamberlain's address to the British public in September 1939: 'Last night the Daily Mirror's ambassador in Berlin handed the German government a final note stating that, unless we heard from them by 11 o'clock, a state of soccer war would exist between us.' A few years later, Morgan counted that headline among his greatest regrets. Though, during the 2010 World Cup when England met Germany in the last 16, he changed his tune again. He also admitted that he had wanted to hire a spitfire from which to drop his front page on a German training session, and to send a tank to 'invade' the offices of Bild, the German tabloid. It could have been worse, but the front page still characterised the mood, describing how easily the country found that particular gear. It became an issue for the British Foreign Office and was discussed in parliament. England's head coach, the late Terry Venables, condemned the behaviour and the Press Complaints Commission received several hundred complaints. Hundreds, though, but not thousands, and those who remember those weeks will recall that the perception was of a tabloid that had gone too far, rather than having been wildly offensive. In 2025, Thomas Tuchel has not walked into the same atmosphere. Most likely, a headline like that would never run today — at least not in the same overt way. And yet the reaction to Tuchel's appointment has carried mild shades of Fawlty's unease and that same 'oooh, a German' sub-banter that must have made that Mirror front page seem like a clever idea. Amazingly, parts of the country are still there. Still in that place. Still thinking that its appropriate to discuss a football coach in such terms. Still believing, correctly as it turns out, that references to Lord Haw-Haw, funny German accents and ambiguous arm gestures can light up certain rooms. Advertisement It's so flippant. And country to country, it makes for an extraordinary contrast. I do not know much about Germany. I have lived here for four years, in Hamburg, but that is not nearly enough time to understand a country in detail. Particularly not one with so many regional differences, state by state, and where the past is so complex. But that past is more active here; it plays more of a role in the present. In a literal way, because walk around many German cities and among the monuments, plaques and statues, you will find Stolpersteine — 'stumbling stones' — that are embedded within the pavements and engraved with the names of the Nazis' victims. The rise of the far right Alternative für Deutschland party suggests a weakening of the country's 'never again' stand against fascism. The causes and implications of that go beyond the scope of this article and are still not properly understood, but Germany has significant societal and economic problems and denying that would be disingenuous. What is still true, though, is that Germans grow up learning about the Nazi era in a way that forces children, from quite a young age, to confront that past. Most people educated in England will remember school trips to Roman villas and nature sanctuaries. Almost everybody, regardless of where they come from, will know what it is to be marched on a bus with an apple, crisps and a soggy sandwich, and then shown around a quarry or castle. Germans no doubt do that, too, but their field trips pass through the darkness. My wife, who was born in Hamburg, remembers being taken to Neuengamme concentration camp with her school as a teenager. She saw the gas chambers, the crematorium and the piles of shoes and, like millions of other Germans, came face-to-face with those horrors at a young age. There is a word for this. Vergangenheitsbewältigung. It means 'the struggle of overcoming the past'. Advertisement Many institutions and companies in Germany have inextricable links to the crimes of national socialism and are responsible for causing great suffering, and often far worse. That history cannot be denied. It cannot just be attributed to a different era and forgotten about. Issues are still being navigated today. In February, Bundesliga club St Pauli suspended the in-stadium playing of its club anthem, Das Herz von St Pauli, after it was discovered that the author of the song's lyrics, Josef Ollig, had previously unknown links to the Nazi party. So, it remains a solemn, unending task which requires vigilance and, in some cases, difficult, disruptive conversations. It is not funny. There is no comedic currency in any of it. And yet in England, bafflingly, it is something that some can never get beyond. There are still rooms and contexts in which Germans — and now the head coach of the English national team — are subject to infantile innuendo. And that really is dispiriting.
Sky News
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Sir Keir Starmer says minister for men 'not the answer' to 'problem with boys' raised in Netflix drama Adolescence
Sir Keir Starmer has rejected the idea of creating a minister for men to combat some of the issues raised in the hit Netflix drama Adolescence. Sir Keir said he was "worried" about the "crisis in masculinity" raised in the programme, which centres on a 13-year-old boy arrested for the murder of a young girl and the rise of incel culture. The themes touched upon in the show have led to suggestions that the government introduce a minister for men to mirror the women and equalities minister that currently exists in the cabinet. But speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, the prime minister said he did not think appointing a new minister was "the answer" to the problems affecting young boys today, including negative and harmful social media content and a lack of visible role models. "I am worried about this; I've got a 16-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl," he said. "There's a reason why the debate has suddenly sparked into life on this and that's because I think a lot of parents, a lot of people who work with young people at school or elsewhere, recognise that we may have a problem with boys and young men that we need to address." Sir Keir said he was more persuaded by arguments put forward by former England manger Gareth Southgate, who argued in a recent lecture that young men lacked positive role models, making them vulnerable to online influencers who promoted negative ideologies about the world and women. "I've been in touch with Gareth," the prime minister said. "I know Gareth. I thought his lecture, what he was saying, was really powerful, will have resonated with a lot of parents. "And I do think this is something that we have to take seriously, we have to address. We can't shrug our shoulders at it." Asked whether a minister for men would help, Sir Keir said: "No, I don't think that's the answer. "I think it is time for listening carefully to what Gareth Southgate was saying and responding to it. "I want to have that further discussion with him. We've already had a bit of a discussion about this, but I do think it's important we pick this challenge up and see it for what it is." 0:49 Delivering the BBC's annual Richard Dimbleby Lecture, Mr Southgate revealed how his experience of missing a penalty at Euro 96 "still haunts me today". And he warned that "callous" influencers online were tricking young men into thinking women and the world were against them, causing them to "withdraw" into the online world and express their emotions there rather than in "real-world communities. He said a "void" in their search for direction is often now being filled by some influencers who "willingly trick young men into believing that success is measured by money or dominance". In his interview with the BBC, Sir Keir suggested footballers and athletes could be role models for boys and young men but said there was also a need for inspirational people in communities. Asked who the British male role models were, Sir Keir told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I always go to sport for this. Footballers, athletes, I think they are role models. "But I also think if you actually ask a young person, they're more likely to identify somebody who's in their school, a teacher, or somebody who maybe is a sports coach, something like that. "So we need to make sure that - this is something that dads do, dad would reach for a sort of sporting hero - I think children, young people, are more likely to reach someone closer to them, within their school, within their community. "And that's, I think, where we need to do some of the work." The UK has never had a minister for men but previous Conservative MPs, including former Doncaster MP Nick Fletcher, have called for one in the past to tackle high rates of suicide among men. The position of minister for women was created by former Labour prime minister Tony Blair as a means of prioritising women's issues across government.
BBC News
19-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Robertson eyes Dalglish's Scotland cap record
Nations League play-offs: Greece v ScotlandVenue: Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus Date: Thursday, 20 March Time: 19:45 GMTCoverage: Watch on BBC One Scotland & iPlayer; listen on BBC Radio Scotland & Sounds; live text coverage & in-play clips on the BBC Sport website & app Not only has Andy Robertson given no consideration to international retirement, but the Scotland captain has also been teasing Sir Kenny Dalglish that he is chasing down his caps Liverpool left-back, 31, will move third in the all-time list should he make his 81st appearance in the first leg of the Nations League play-off in Greece on Thursday - live on BBC out the national team for that game will take him past Darren Fletcher, leaving just Jim Leighton (91) and Dalglish (102) ahead of him."I actually said to Kenny the other week, 'I'm coming for you'," Robertson told BBC Scotland of the Liverpool legend. "His reply was plenty of players have said that before and he's still the main man."Robertson made his Scotland debut under Gordon Strachan in 2014 while at Dundee United and was first made captain by Alex McLeish four years later."I love playing for Scotland, showing up for every camp, and I want to get as many caps as I can," he said. "Wherever that takes me, it takes me. I'm incredibly proud to get to 80."You just deal with what's in front of you. There's so much going on, you can't look too far ahead."You need a bit of luck with injuries but I do everything I can to make sure I'm in the best possible shape for Liverpool and Scotland." Robertson's fourth international goal came in stoppage-time against Poland in November, earning a 2-1 victory in Warsaw to clinch third place in Nations League Group Scotland must prevail against Greece to remain in the tournament's top to the captain, the team made "huge strides" in their debut Group A campaign, amassing seven points from the final three games after losing the first three."The Nations League has been important for us and the aim was always to get to Group A," said Robertson. "We then saw the rewards when we held our own against Portugal and Croatia."There was a lot of negativity after the Euros and rightly so. We believed we could get out of the group and we didn't perform to the levels we know we can. "There was a lot of talk around 'is this the end for this squad?' But I think we have bounced back really well."Greece finished runners-up behind England on goal difference in their B-level group and, at 39th, are six places above Scotland in the world rankings."They're a really good team at home and don't concede many goals," said Robertson. "It will be difficult but we believe we can given anyone a game."Having not faced Greece since the road to Euro 96, Scotland will meet them again later this year in World Cup and the defeated side in the Nations League quarter-final between Portugal and Denmark are the other opponents, with matches beginning in September and concluding in have not been at the World Cup since 1998, when Robertson was aged said: "You look at the group and think 'can we compete?' Yes, that's a definite, but it's going to be tough."Hopefully, we have everyone fit and we can give it a right good shot. Playing at a World Cup would be the ultimate." Robertson was promoting the Chase Football Programme, which is helping people from low-income backgrounds get into coaching by fully funding their qualifications, after being reunited with former Queen's Park coach David McCallum.
