The Best of Goals on Sunday - 7th April

9.312 - 16.1 Ben Shephard

Hi there, welcome to the Goals on Sunday podcast. Joining Cammy and me on the sofa this weekend was the one and only Neil Razor Ruddock.

16.12 - 29.457 Ben Shephard

He had some wonderful stories to share about his time playing at top level football and also to reflect on what has been a very interesting weekend in the Premier League, not least his thoughts on whether Liverpool could go all the way and win the title this season.

29.597 - 29.717

Enjoy.

37.366 - 38.468 Neil Ruddock

But you've still not been on before.

38.508 - 39.249 Ben Shephard

You have been on.

39.309 - 42.736 Neil Ruddock

So that's how unimportant you two are in my life that I cannot remember.

47.765 - 48.165

Wow.

48.306 - 60.189 Ben Shephard

You've hardly changed. Thanks, Ben. Look, most recently around the country, but particularly in our house, Mark, I've got boys that are 12 and 14 and they watched Riveted to Harry's Heroes.

60.229 - 76.315 Neil Ruddock

Yeah, I think everyone, the women coming up to me and enjoyed it because I think it was, it was a show about men's health. It was the football secondary, it was about getting fit, you know, in your late 40s, 50s. But even women enjoyed it. I think women were going to thought it was just another, you know, husband's going to watch another football show and... I think the women got into it.

76.676 - 84.15 Ben Shephard

It was gripping. It was incredibly brilliant to watch you all get back together, to recreate a little bit of that chemistry.

84.51 - 101.628 Neil Ruddock

Some of us haven't seen for 10 years. Johnny Barnes and Robbie and Mark Wright. I haven't seen them for... I live in Kent, so... To get together, it's the same old, the stories, you know, two-minute stories, no, five-minute story. Yeah. More people are in the story. You know, you were there, Razor, weren't you? Yeah, of course we were.

101.648 - 106.095 Ben Shephard

But you know what it's like when you... But to qualify for the programme, you had to have played for England.

108.739 - 109.18 Neil Ruddock

Just.

109.2 - 117.973 Ben Shephard

I think people might forget that you got your England cap, this is it, against England, took on Nigeria, November 1994. Do you remember? Have you got good memories of this?

117.953 - 131.111 Neil Ruddock

Yeah, yeah. Well, not really, because it goes so... You know when they say, take it all in, and... It just goes, just flies past, and, you know, I can't remember doing that tackle. I've seen it a couple of times. No, I can't remember. David Platt scored the goal. We won 1-0.

131.151 - 144.67 Neil Ruddock

Yeah, I remember it. Platt took it off my head. I remember thinking that. I would have scored and been really, really famous, but Platt got in front of me and nicked it like he used to, innit? I was there, it was just on my head, that far away, I'm just about to end it, come in here and end it in.

144.69 - 159.374 Neil Ruddock

That was my chance, but I was subbed for loads of times in 96, Euro 96, because I was going to get in the squad and I'd done the splits, and I can't do the splits when you play football, don't do that. No, don't, don't, don't. And then Sol Campbell took my place and that was the end of mine.

159.774 - 166.405 Neil Ruddock

I was even the big captain and I played for... So you had a big career within the... I played for 17s all the way, every team from 17-year-old to the first team, so...

185.814 - 186.615 Ben Shephard

How's that all going?

186.635 - 205.54 Neil Ruddock

So I've lost another stone since then, so... But seeing David was fit, as you said, and for him to just drop... He was dead for six minutes. That's the thing that really hit home, he was fit, he was just playing football and he'd just scored a goal. Yes. Just run, just jogging back to South Wales and just, and all his mates thought he was playing, thought he'd just scored a goal.

206.502 - 221.907 Neil Ruddock

So that, you know, it was serious, serious. And not only, you know, I went to see the doctor and I'd come out of it better than a footnote because I thought I was going to be a lot worse off actually. Yeah, yeah. My cholesterol was up a little bit, you know, obviously I need to lose weight. But there was other things when you get into...

222.258 - 241.225 Neil Ruddock

So have you changed your lifestyle? Yeah, I've actually, yeah. You know, especially I get over 45s and, you know, it was the lads together and everyone had different sort of problems, you know. I've got a bad knee as well, which was, which is why I've got to have a new knee. So it's, I can't sort of lift weights or... Have you set yourself some targets though?

241.285 - 247.652 Neil Ruddock

I'm swimming, I'm swimming now, just put... Float. Floats. Floatation. Well, you know, the little float.

247.752 - 248.173 Ben Shephard

Armbands?