David James On Liverpool, Portsmouth, England And Playing Abroad

An interview with David James, by Callum McFadden for WFi.

You started your career with Watford before moving to Liverpool in 1992 where you won the League Cup in 1995. What are your memories from your time at Anfield overall?

“Liverpool is a massive club, and it was an honour to play there. The standards of Liverpool are that winning a cup is the minimum expectation and it was no different back in the 90s when I played there.

“The frustration from my time at Liverpool was that we had talent in the squads that I played in during the 90s, but we did not have the return in silverware that we should have given the ability we had.

“I broke into the England team while I was at Liverpool, and I enjoyed being at the club as Gerard Houllier arrived and put a modern footprint on the club and how we went about things. I learned so much from him even if it was not to the benefit of my medal haul as a player.

“I will always be thankful to have been the number one goalkeeper for one of the biggest clubs in world football and I always took great pride and honour in representing Liverpool.”

You won an FA Cup playing for Portsmouth under Harry Redknapp in 2008. What are your memories of that success and playing under Harry?

“I love Harry so playing under him was amazing. He was the best manager I had during my career.

“Portsmouth was an amazing time for me, and it has stayed with me. For example, I was out in Berlin working at Euro 2024 and I met so many Portsmouth fans who were always happy to see me and talk about the times that we had under Harry.

“Winning the FA Cup was a great achievement and one that I will never forget. Ironically, we only played one premier league team in the competition that year, but it could not have been any tougher as it was Manchester United away at Old Trafford. To win there with the team that they had under Sir Alex was monumental for us and looking back, it was probably at that moment where our name was destined to be on the trophy.

“We played six games to win the cup and won five of them 1-0. It was not epic performance-wise, but it was something special.

“What made Portsmouth so special was that our success meant so much to the fans and the city as a whole. It was a real moment in time.

“Whereas, if I think back to Liverpool, the teams that I played in could have won everything at Liverpool but in the history of that great club, everyone had already won everything at Liverpool, so it was more about maintaining the legacy at Liverpool rather than success being a real moment in time.

“What we did at Portsmouth, other than when they won the FA Cup before World War II, was unheard of. We took the club into Europe and that campaign was summed up for me by having Ronaldinho score an annoying free kick at Fratton Park. Ronaldinho at Fratton Park? That was a fairytale in itself.

“Portsmouth fans remember the fact that Ronaldinho was playing at Fratton Park more than perhaps getting to Wembley and winning the FA Cup in a sense which is mad (laughs).

“Overall, I had an amazing time under Harry, and he got me into some of the best form of my career at the age of 36 so I will always think fondly of Portsmouth and playing under him.”

You represented England on 53 occasions. Being an England goalkeeper is a role that is heavily scrutinised. How did you cope with that pressure and what are your standout memories from England duty?

“The easy answer to handling pressure is badly. My England career was 13 years long with my debut in 97 and l my last game at the World Cup in 2010.

“Interestingly, I got dropped a number of times – understandably – for poor form but I always managed to get back in and I take pride in that because how many England goalkeepers ever got dropped and then got another chance?

“Another thing from my time with England that I am proud of is the fact that I made my debut in the World Cup finals at 39 meaning that I was the oldest player – at the time – to ever debut at a World Cup finals.

“However, in the end, I did not win anything with England despite playing with a talented group of players, so it’s slightly tainted in that respect.

“Now, I support England as an ex-player where I can say that I’ve been there and tried to win something like the players that we have now are doing. We didn’t deliver a trophy, but I believe that this group of players can win something in the years to come.”

Finally, David, you played abroad in both Iceland and India towards the end of your career. What was it like for you playing and living abroad after a career at the top level in England?

“It was absolutely amazing especially as both countries were completely different. When I was in Iceland, it was the coldest summer in 30 years where the maximum temperature was 10 degrees which was an interesting experience compared with the heat and humidity of India.

“I didn’t fully appreciate what it would be like to be a foreigner in a changing room until I moved abroad. It made me think back on my experiences in England having played football with so many foreign players in changing rooms and appreciate what they must have gone through now that I was the guy that was the outsider in that sense.

“A lot of the players were part-time in Iceland, so we did lots of things in a very short period of time.

“Then, to go to India as a player/manager in a brand-new league with players who knew everything about the Premier League and fans who knew everything about the Premier League was unique.

“It was surreal too as we had Liverpool banners all around the stadium when I first started playing in Kerala.

“Eventually, they got taken down because they only wanted to support their own team.

“What I appreciate more than anything is – and I know that this might sound a little bit corny – how the appreciation for football globally is so strong.

“My love for the game grew even more than I thought that I could after having the opportunity to be a part of strong teams in foreign countries. It was fantastic and I am thankful that I had those opportunities.”

David James was speaking courtesy of Best Online Poker Sites.