Gordon Hill: Beauty of FA Cup, salary caps & USA’s growing appetite for soccer

The Gordy & Gubbs Podcast is back with Episode 4.

As we start to countdown to the 2025 Club World Cup and 2026 FIFA World Cup, Gordon Hill gives us his unique insight into Soccer Stateside.

And there’s always plenty of straight talking from the King of All Cockneys about Life at Old Trafford

#GordonHill #manutdfans #manchesterunited

ManUtdTheReligion is a channel created by filmmaker John Gubba, who has been actively supporting Manchester United since the late 60s. The aim is to keep alive the legacy and history of our football club with video content across our social media network and on broadcast channels around the world.

Anyone wishing to make a donation and sponsor our future video content and broadcast documentaries can do so via https://paypal.com/paypalme/johngubba or to discuss in person please get in touch via the email in the About section.

[Music] hello welcome to the gordi and gubs podcast we’ve had a little bit of a break but I’m John Gober and over in Seattle is my friend Gordon how are you Gordon fairly well John thank you a big hand for myself but um other than that yeah very well Round of Applause there for for Gordon Hill in Seattle oh yes thank you very much yeah Round of Applause okay so welcome to our new style of podcast totally unscripted we haven’t really uh rehearsed what we’re going to talk about got some bullet points of things that we would like to talk about I’ve just mentioned to Gordon before we came on air that a couple of local stories here that would been reported in the UK couple of the newspapers have reporting that the whole Manchester United Squad is up for sale I think there’s possibly three players who are Untouchable quand garnacho and may the three Untouchables some would say perhaps the skipper Bruno Fernandez what do you think Gordon about who are the players that we should be keeping hold of or do you think they’re all up for sale if the price is right very good question that John um I’m keeping in touch with different various news outlets and seeing what the transfers are and everything else and 15 players are going to be you know leaving the summer um and only well four are going to be kept so the three that you mentioned and obviously Fernandez could be the other one um it doesn’t shock me because every day we’re looking at different transactions um news transfer speculations um the club is you know really throwing out stories left right and Center so it doesn’t surprise me that 15 players are up it surprises me that that we’re making it known that there are problems and major problems and so I think Jim has got his hands full Jason Wilcox and Jason I know Jas and he he’ll have his hands full to seeing what’s going to be replaced I mean you know of course I’ve worked in the medor all my life and I I think you always have to read between the lines when you have these stories because there’s always a certain element of newspapers kite what I call kite flying they guess what the story is going to be sometimes there is information that’s leaked out to the to the media from the football clubs you’re never really sure until things happen what’s going to happen but we all know Manchester United’s had a horrible season so we all know that you know United need to make some changes yeah I think everybody except the board or or Jim and the people that he’s hired are on trial they’re they’re seeing who they can replace I think John MTO went about two weeks ago I think he’s saying thank you but no thank you you know thanks for your service and bits and pieces I mean the turmoil that’s been around the club has been around players wanting to go players not you know being injured and you know taking money let left right and Center for doing nothing so I think that he’s got a very big task on his hands and who whoever he wants to get rid of he’ll get rid of and whoever he wants to bring in John he’ll bring in but you know I go on my Twitter and I’ll be very honest that I I talk about the games that I’m looking at now I don’t look at the future I look at how they’re playing now I reflect and comment on how they’re playing now and I look and see what I would do if I was in that position and it’s a very difficult task for for anybody so you get supporters you know giving their views saying they should do this should do this you can’t and then the if it gets through to the players and I can tell you for a fact if it gets through to them they become nervy they become very very suspect about is he going to get rid of me does he want me is he going to go are we getting a new man are we going I mean the speculation around 10 ha’s the same John absolutely I mean personally I’d like to see Eric ten hog get more time because he’s two years into a three-year program I mean if we do we are in the cup final that’s three Cup finals in two years if he does win the FA Cup it will be a massive boost for the football club and it will be two trophies he’ll be the first Manchester United manager to win two trophies in his first two seasons so even though we’ve had a horrible season I think perhaps Eric tag has paid the price of possibly overachieving in his first season and people expecting things to happen too quickly and Jim Ratliff has said from the start don’t expect overnight success because I think the thing that has really pleased me and I think a lot of fans is the fact that people like Gary Neville and other experts have been saying for a long time that the football clubs needs to change things from the top to the bottom and uh it starts at the top so we’ve got rid of Richard Arnold we’ve got rid of John merto bringing these new guys so it looks like they’re putting a whole new structure in place and the thing what I like to say really is that over the last two decades where the football club has really fall down has been Recruitment and that is the biggest thing that we have to tackle now so this is the first this is going to be the first real big test if the guys are all properly in situ where we’ve got a transfer window where the new regime can try and start getting the recruitment right but what I’m more optimistic about is the fact that we’ve got the best Academy in the world still and it’s getting the balance right between the young players I know you’re a developer you develop young Talent getting the the balance right between the players coming through the Gatos the mayus and the rest of them and then making the signings on top to blend the two together and that’s for me is getting that right is going to be absolutely Paramount isn’t it it it you hit the nail on the head when you said that the Academy I mean if you look at a club doesn’t matter what club it is in the Premiership or any club around the world or or even with what I do with developing I get a 100 players and then I end up at the end of the day with maybe four or five of these players that are pushing their through pushing their way through to the next level of the game United have been a bigger structure they’re doing exactly the same hello John I think we froze for about five seconds but we are coming live from Seattle so that’s not too bad yeah sorry about that big jumbo just flew over but no the situation is is is that the club have got an academy structure that is is well sorted well looked after um you got the the right people going into the right places um you’re developing them and it’s like I said when you’re developing a young player you might get a 100 players that you go through and maybe one or two will make that most pro clubs if they get one or two coming through will be able to put them into the first team and that’s you know that’s value for money so to speak but United are now trying to connect the dots so to speak youth with the first team but the ultim is the first team and how good is that first team because United have got such a reputation they are such a powerful club that they’ve got to be competing with the best we have to compete with the best we have to be going for the best but they got to be the right players at the right time and not just spending money willy-nilly because somebody becomes available absolutely one of the things that encourag me the most is when Jim Ratliff said he doesn’t want to buy kilan mbappe because he said that’s too easy he’d rather discover the next kilan mbappe so for me I like the fact that we want to focus more on developing homegrown Talent we obviously proved that we can do it over the decades I mean every all go going back to the Busby babes and Duncan Edwards and Bobby Charlton all the way through class of 92 we’ve had other players of course like you Mar hes and your noral Whit sides and now you’ve got the current crop coming through we’ve always been great at bringing the kids through and uh I think what it tells us no matter how many players are actually for sale it’s actually a sign of how the game’s changing because Financial fair play now is becoming a big factor and I think that leads us on to the other thing that I wanted to ask you about because over the last 24 hours the Premier League have talked about salary caps and uh it kind of goes hand inand really because football clubs now have got to really focus on how to make sure they’re not making such a big loss that they put the football clubs in Jeopardy and do you think salary camps can work um it seems to have its pros and cons uh salary cap is great at keeping clubs with a level so that clubs can’t overspend and go out and buy players left right and Center um it’s favorable for the clubs not favorable for the player because the player obviously wants to get as much as he possibly can so there you’re going to be in in in toe-to-toe fighting with the PFA because the PFA will want their players to negotiate and but you’ve got to draw a line somewhere it’s always been that players have always looked at their bonuses as making up their money and you know and my time and and in Fergus time and in you know uh other managers times it’s well okay fine you’re virtually giving the player as much as possibly the transfer is and so when you have that and you don’t you don’t you don’t have that drive that drive is missing just goes into my bank and I’m already on 500 400 300,000 a week now so it doesn’t really matter and I think that is why I think it goes and it’s funny to explain but you can see why the young kids that come through haven’t got anything want to prove a point want to go out and bust their butt to get what the big boys are getting once they get it it seems to die a little and then basically they’re set where if you if you bring in a cat salary cap and then I would say add incentives to it so that if you you know play I mean former pro Pros that I played with former friends of mine that we talk about it when we’re off scene and off the and when we’re just sitting down talking and we say yeah you know when you talk about well I’m on 40 pound a point or I’m on1 pound a point or I get ,000 if I win the FA Cup now it’s it’s like what it when the FA Cup you know and that demeanors the FA Cup a little bit but it also pushes the player to say well okay we won the FA Cup that’s it and it’s it’s well I’m still getting my 350 Grand whether you know whether I’m playing or not and that to me just a little bit far out for me I I can’t sometimes I can’t comprehend it and people write on on the twitters they don’t understand where we come from when we talk about the players now and we look at players and we look at the driving that player not what he’s getting not what he’s driving not where lives but the way that player performs and gives and says would tell you what this player and people talk about it now you know and we’ve seen it with players John and I think that’s what Jim so Jim and his um management team are seeing as well Jason will Cox will be able to see it as well and that you’ve got to then go for that player that’s going to be everything for you and I think the incentives have got to come back into the game where the club if it don’t reach it they’re not out of pocket I understand how you want to try and motivate players by having incentives but the game is so far different MoneyWise to what it was when you were playing because you know you were far far removed you’re in a different totally different ball game regarding figures because when you used to get bonuses it really meant something I feel now football players getting so much money it doesn’t really mean anything apart from bragging right I’m getting more than you because I can’t believe once you get £100,000 a week 200,000 a week 300,000 I mean what’s the difference I mean can you not live on £100,000 a week I’m sure anybody who played in your in your era they would have they would have they would have quite happily played for £100,000 a week that would have been £100,000 that would have been a four-year contract for four years would have been 100 Grand 25 Grand a year but then you tally up all your bonuses and I’m not I’m not going back in time I’m I’m not telling people oh well this is yesterday no I’m not it’s just what I am looking at and feeling and seeing as a former player what these players are giving and what they’re not giving and and how the game has been tailored to them and today’s football do I like watching it no I don’t like watching it but I will watch it to see what these players are doing in today and I keep up with all the news but I say it as I see it John and if a club’s not doing well I will say the club’s not doing well and at the moment of time it’s it’s a a horrific time for everybody and all the supporters they write into me and I that when I say something it’s from my heart that I feel it it’s not that I’m bearing malice against the club bearing malice against the what what they get and remember we pioneered for them to get more money then the Robson pioneered to get them for more money Ferguson Squad pioneered you know the first th000 a week player first 2,000 all of a sudden it’s not gone from that it’s gone to 150 and it’s what the clubs are willing to pay to get those good players those top players but sometimes those top players are not ready made for a club with which we’ve seen at United the players are bought not not not a United player but because they they would become available and and it’s like a vicious vicious roundabout I go back to what you said earlier really because you you talked about when the young players come through they’re not kind of they’re not corrupted by money they’re playing because they want to get into the team they want to be successful they want to be having successful careers and I just feel with football at whatever angle you look at it from it’s kind of been corrupted by money money it’s become all about money rather than about glory and I feel that back in your day obviously players were motivated by bonuses Etc any normal person would be but in those days I think there was much more passion for the football club that you paid for and uh you were doing it for the glory as much as the money whereas now I feel it’s become very much a job and uh the players that really love the football club and love the game they’re getting less and less because it really is about they’re getting so much money that sometimes I think when the game’s too hard it’s easy to give up and say well I’m getting me money i’ just come back leek you know me exactly I we want as fans we want to see players at fight for the shirt and also I think a lot of fans these days you have to remember are going through hard times I mean we’re going for I’m not sure it’s not technically a recession I don’t think I’m not an expert in politics but everybody’s hard up at the moment and when we see these footballers getting paid astronomical wages and they don’t win and sometimes they don’t look like they’re trying that’s the thing that really Gres with football fans I I to I can totally sympathize with the supporters and the fans because they pay good money to get into the ground into their seats watch the game hopefully get in something from their team what I what I think what is missing is if United all of a sudden you know started to win games with attack in football everybody would be oh this is great this is great but you have to have the Downs in football to appreciate the UPS so when you when when you’ve had the the the the run-ofthe-mill so to speak League results that have been up and down like a yo-yo then all of a sudden you know you get a result and you’re in the FA Cup Final where you shouldn’t have been in the FA Cup final but you get there but that’s gone that’s water under the bridge now what they got to do is look forward to the the the a spectacular game Man City Man United and Manchester Derby being played at Wembley Man City on song United struggling trying to find form will it be a one-off I mean the FA Cup can throw that because when we were playing for the FA Cup Southampton came and beat us they were The Underdogs and that’s what the FA Cup throws at you so if United do well and win the FA Cup that’ll be you know a feather in uh Eric’s cap he’ll be able to say well okay fine will the will the pressure release but he still got that situation of you got another season to come forward and now you’ve got players there that certainly aren’t United caliber but you’re asking them at this moment in time to go out and do something against Man City so you’re asking on one hand please play you you know like don’t hold back because you’ve got two games left and then the Cup Final when you reach the Cup Final you have the tendency to to take your foot off the pedal a bit you don’t want to be injured you don’t want to not have good form so to speak and that’s basically what happens and so it’s going to be up and down for the next month or so until the fa Cup’s over and then obviously day by day and I’m following the news I F United’s news and all the players be interesting to be honest with John to see who’s coming who’s going what’s happening but I think the roundabout is going to be very busy absolutely I like what you say about the FA Cup because I remember obviously when you won the FA Cup but you came on you came on the back of you won the FA Cup on the back of losing the previous season so there is a small parallel there this time around where we lost the FA Cup last time and we’re going back but this time we’re not going back as uh we’re not going back as favorites for sure but uh that’s the beauty of the FA Cup I mean I think fans still love the FA Cup but it’s been devalued because of what we talked about before money and the money that can be made from the champions league and the Premier League seems to dwarf the FA Cup and we saw that with the losing the FA Cup replays which have all been thrown out now and that’s all about for me it’s all about making room for the Super League whatever form that might take where it’s whether it’s an enlarged Champions League or another Super League that’s going to come in the future it seems to be about making room in the calendar but the big clubs always find room in the calendar to have this preseason tours and you know you’ll get rid of some games and they’ll bring other games to make more money so it seems a little bit hypocritical really but I just wanted to I was just looking on Twitter and there was a quote from Bruno Fernandez and he says uh if you want me to be very honest if I have to think about not continuing in the Premier League it won’t be until after the Euros because nothing will be able to take my focus of away from the FA Cup and the Euros possibly not the best English there but I think what he’s saying there is that it’s he’s it’s almost forgotten about the Premier League and he’s really focused on the FA Cup Final because the reality is I’ve got this Vision that you know we could end up going into the FA Cup Final you know I’d like to see Arsenal win the Premier League and if they do it’s going to be a win or takes all in the FA Cup and if we can beat cityy in the FA Cup Final we could have a remarkable situation where we’ve had an awful season we win the FA Cup and we win more than Man City who won the treble last year but that’s football that’s but that’s the beauty of the FA Cup that’s the beauty of the league I mean we’ we we’ve got the people behind the scenes or we don’t see who supposedly know the game you know and I’m not talking about players or or the managers I’m talking about people that are in you know the director’s places and that they know absolutely nothing yeah and what they do is they look to say we need the survival of the club for us to be able to like play in this cup this cup or go to Europe the higher you get is say well now it’s become Europe Europe Europe and the money money money and and all of a sudden the European Cup the the international European League which has been branded around and and and it frustrates you because they’re saying well okay clubs can’t handle it the schedules are too much at this moment yet they’ve got 24 players John to choose from they’re one of the biggest clubs and they say well we’ve got a couple of players that we could put on you’ve got 24 players you surely must have them at a caliber that can play in the Premiership not just 11 not just 12 as we had but but you’ve got players there that you can change and you change if you watch the S substitutions over the over the season and over the years they’ve gone up from two to three all of a sudden now you know you can change three four players and you’ve got 24 to pick from and this and everybody said oh the schedule and the injuries well that’s part and parcel of football but what you’re looking at is to say well okay fine managers now say well I’ve got injuries you got 24 players if you can’t put a successful team on that field build from 24 players that you have then I’m I hold my hands up and say I tell you what you’re doing something wrong then if you can’t have it you must have somebody to replace somebody you must have somebody if they’re injured or sent off you must have someone in reserve that can do just as good a job and then what happens then the consistency of the game goes you change it or wrong substitution or you should have done this or you should have done that all of a sudden John the game goes the other way because you’ve taken away the consistency there’s no cons 11 this week we played with 11 11 11 every week for nearly 60 games you get to know the player you get to know how he runs you get to know this some of these players I see are being played in different positions surely that should be done on the training field 24 players they should be groomed to be able to play they get enough money for it now to be groomed to be playing in different positions so that they could and they the same standard yes you’re going to get your special players but that to me is is is a problem for you know for me squads are 24 if you can’t put a good team out there I I I shake my head I think that’s a difference between United and City because we’ve kind of spent similar amounts of money to be honest and City have got so much stronger Squad than us and that goes back to the Recruitment and uh we spent like a billion pound Plus on players and we haven’t got the same strength of squad that man city have got so it’s really we’ve reached a point now where it’s almost like we’ve maxed out the credit card and we can’t make mistakes so we’ve got to make sure that the new regime the new recruitment Department are going to make good decisions going forward so that’s going to be absolutely crucial but I do feel that uh I do to be honest I do look forward to the uh the preseason games and I you know one of the things I think we should say is that counting down over the next few months we’re going to be getting Gordon Hill State Side to be telling us when things are happening over there because we’ve got the countdown to the 2026 World Cup the FIFA World Cup we’ve got the uh next year 2025 we’ve got the enlarged 32 team club World Cup it’s going to be the first Club World Cup of that size so I think it’s going be fascinating to see how that is uh how that goes down and what the uh anticipation is and the preparation for that over in America because I do feel that the American game is really this is the time for football soccer as they call it in America because the MSL has done quite well we’ve had Messi over there and there’s a lot more attention now we’ve got the uh we’ve got the welcome to rexon which is own by the American Hollywood guys and uh I think generally football seems to be a lot more uh interesting to the American public but uh one one thing I’d like to to mention I just I just mention that as a sort of like a tease really for the fact that you’re hopefully going to give us some information views about what’s happening in the countdown to these American Events over the next couple of years and but meantime you’ll be coming the opposite way because I think I’m hoping to be in where is it 27th of July Man United play Arsenal in Los Angeles but you’re you’re going to be coming the opposite way to ballington United tell us about your your soccer school in the in in July what there yes I’ve got some uh young kids that obviously in my center of excellence and what I’m doing is I’m bringing these youngsters over to have a week with the ballington United under eights under NES under 12s under 16s I’m bringing some players over to actually get the culture of the English game and let the American kids see this and then and then I will be leading it off uh in July I think it’s July the 23rd fourth fifth and sixth so it’s four days I will be in ballington um and I will be taking that clinic and it’s nice because I can see both cultures you know I saw I I know what the American culture is in the game I know there’s there’s only about three top cities here that really produce or not produce but have a following of football so to speak that’s Florida California and New Jersey so you got East West you know and and you just have to look at the audience that are actually you know like 600,000 maybe in Florida 400,000 in California but the game is growing from when it first came when I came over and I I help pyer it um with with the likes of Pelle Beck andau uh um c um bestie you can’t ask for any better to come and push the game what they’ve done now is the American scene has changed a little bit and they’ve gone a little bit back to that by saying okay let’s bring over Messi and then see it it won’t change the game because the game is still American football that’s their sport so what you’re doing is you’re competing with it in terms of audience TV and so when you get a a a a World Cup coming to the States and Canada and Mexico Mexico you don’t have to worry about because they all support the the game of football soccer but when you’re introducing it to people that are looked at for instance NFL football that’s all hand eye coordination baseball I hand coordination basketball I hand coordination we’re bringing or we’ve introduced a game that is ioot coordination and that is completely different that has to be mastered and so now you’ve got a lot of the Young Generation Now watching that playing it at school and at different clubs and now what’s happening is they’re starting to make moves and I said a few years ago it’ll only be a matter of time before American kids go across to Europe but they’ve got to go at an early age to learn the culture that’s why I’m taking these kids to ballington United to see some of the potential stars of the future from England and America get together and it’s nice to be able to bridge that Gap and you’re looking at maybe the next generation of players so the trip to me ballington United it’s you know as I said it’s I’ve been connected with them I lived in ballington the famous white Nancy is the big I always love looking at the white Nancy because I used to take my dog my old English for a walk up there and so it’ll be brilliant 23rd 24th 25 6 of July at bolun and you can get it through bolun united.co I’m looking the website now it’s ballington united.co do.uk it says ballington United Football Club soccer school soccer School summer 20124 with Gordon Hill the former professional footballer who played for Manchester United from 1975 to 19 1978 23rd 24th 25th and 27th of July what I wanted to ask Gordon was I know you’ve been running courses you’ve been bringing kids over from America boys and girls for many many years now have you seen an improvement over that time or an improvement in in quality or an improvement enthusiasm for the game I’ve what I’ve noticed is that the kids don’t want to come back they want to come back to America they don’t want they want to play there and and when they come back and and they the first thing you do is say well wow that’s the thing that comes out wow and that is you’re seeing the English kids that every every single kid wants to be a professional and he goes out and plays like that they want to stay in England they don’t want to come back to America is that what you’re say that’s exactly right they want to play and then when they do come back then they look at what they’re playing with and so they’re asking questions which is fabulous and that’s the development stage and I think that development stage they’re asking more for what they can give here so then you now transfer it the caliber of coaching has got to go up has to go up but at at the moment it’s stays there well okay fine you’re playing but you play a European team and you most probably get your butt kicked and it’s slowly changing you’re going to get some American teams go over and do very well indeed but there’s another level to it so it’s it’s a pyramid in any club you’ll have a 100 at the bottom in your development you’ll get say 25 30 of them come through and then a couple of years later you’ll get 10 and then at the top of it you’ll get two and it’s like any club man united is no different they’ll pick out kids from all over the world and narrow it down until they’ve got the best and that’s why it’s the best system and I’d like to congratulate them because they they won the the the under 18 cup which is Fant fantastic and and so development side of it is I enjoy the development side of it John more than anything else because I can see them and they are making progress here in the States but you know it’s a long road you know it’s you can’t be I can’t put kids in the microwave and press the button and two seconds I’ve got a player doesn’t happen I know when you bring them over you give them a good education you don’t just go to ballington United you do take them to places like Old Trafford and other league club yes up and down the pyramid so you try to give them an overview I think when you bring them over here and uh it’s something that I guess it’s so so different than what they see in America because in America of course it’s payto playay isn’t it well it’s a payto playay system that that that you know the and again it’s the money the real good tough next well players are at the bottom that can’t afford it and and and it’s sad but you know you pay to play and you and and the poor kids that can’t you know that’s I try to help him out as much as I can but it’s only a certain amount you know certain much I can do but it’s nice to see a kid with the enthusiasm you know argues at argues at you because he wants to do this and you get you know that he’s got the passion and you know he’s got the drive all we have to do is you know work with him give him the tools and let him go and run with it and that’s all development with it being paid to play in America I guess it’s inevitable that there must be a lot of good players who never get a chance so is there any way that you can try and discover those kids or they just basically lost because of the system you’ve got to change the system to find those players and not lose them to the game those good players believe it or not will pick another sport cuz they’re good at the game soccer right a good young player and they can pick up a baseball bat basketball a football and try to look at that way I mean because you you look at the states the states is a multitude of sports that’s it you know they say well he an athlete I’m not searching for an athlete I’m searching for a footballer to develop a footballer but the athlete may be able to do athletics but and what I’ve just just said so it’s a it’s sometimes you look at it and say tell you what this kid’s a good kid but will he get a chance to be able and you try to get in there and help them but at the end of the day John it’s it’s what I said before it’s the it’s the money that stops IT and it’s a shame it’s a shame but money is there all the way through isn’t it so do you think there’ll ever be a day when it will change in America where Young play won’t have to pay to play or do you think it’s just built into the culture of the game over there and that’s the way it will always be or do you think maybe one day that it could change it be it’s built in the culture it’s built in the culture John it I don’t think it will unless you know you get a a 1502 200 millionaires that want to do it just because they want to do it I mean you they look at it they’re going to get a very big excitement and I think the audience is will go through the roof when the the World Cup comes here I mean I can guarantee you there’s going to be 6 to eight games at the stadium here in Seattle they’re going down to they’re going up to Vancouver they’re going to um California and then they’re going across to the east coast and then they’re going to Dallas so the venues venues are are spread out but the most fascinating one is there’s no Stadium or no football team soccer team in San Francisco yet they get the World Cup venues and if there’s money there’s got to be new competitions if there’s new competitions there’s going to be more money if there’s more money there’s got to be more games if there’s more games there’s got to be bigger squads you know and you know we’ve seen it and now people are saying well let’s get a salary cap how much can you how much is a salary cap it’s mindboggling to what people and what these directors and that really want from the game you know and it’s it’s sad I mean I take my hat off to Brian Reynolds who who’s got rexam who’s done a great job over there but he’s used the TV side of it to be able to get what he wants he’s actually got he’s gone out with it and everybody’s seen it and it you know it lights up for a couple weeks this is fantastic and I enjoy watching it because I know where rexam come from and I like and I love the story you know but once you start losing pound Shillings and Pence then you have to start thinking very seriously can I sustain this and that’s you know I I take my hat off and Brian you’ve done a fantastic job you know they’re even lining up tour t uh tours of the states as well you remind me of J Charon sometimes Gordon when you get people’s names wrong it’s Ryan Ryan not Brian it’s Ryan Reynolds isn’t it the fil Ryan Ryan with an R Ryan Reynolds you mention all those venues for the World Cup one I’d like to mention because I’m going over there next month and uh we still need to sell some tickets and we get back to that subject of money but I’m taking uh Yap Stam over to Toronto and uh it’s one of the World Cup venu so I’m interested in seeing what the uh finding out first down what the appetite for football is in Canada at Toronto because it’s going to be I think they’re going to be hosting the first match in Canada during the World Cup in 2026 and you of course played in Canada what how how what’s the comparison like between playing in the states and playing in Canada um the Canadians are very very receptive to European football you know and they will welcome it with open arms and you know obviously their national game is hockey so you’re looking at the audience side of it that can reflect a little bit on the foot side of it because it’s you know dog eat dog you know fight and so you’re seeing the winning mentality right the away through that system in Canada I was up there and I coached in Montreal and we had so many Europeans in Montreal because it’s you know very very diverse we had a great audience of Europeans but they love their football and you know in the states they love their football but it’s the audience that are like for instance in a certain area you know you might get the German sector you might get the Italian sector and you might get the Chinese and you know and these different sectors in that city that you know oh great Mexico you’ll get everybody supporting Mexico they’ll be out in force you know that’s football Canada you’ll get them out because they’ve got the World Cup and they’ve got a couple of venues there Vancouver is gorgeous city you’ll have Toronto that’s a fantastic place you got Montreal as well which is very Cosmopolitan but then you come to the states and you’re looking at stadiums that are NFL stadiums so you’ll get the audience to say well I don’t understand the game it’s a simple game though isn’t it football football’s a simple game isn’t it compared to American football it’s a simple game Complicated by coaches it’s as simple as that and basically John it will be a it will be that one thing that will happen and I can promise everybody it will be a spectacle it will be always fantastic spectacle they will be able to put it on with flying colors and of course where’s the final being played it’s got to be in America somewhere remind me New York oh New York iy I’m starting off in New York on the way to Toronto so uh I’ll be getting my first proper taste to New York York after you might have to stay I think it’s at the giant St I played in the giant stadium and I I’ll be honest with on a lighter not I’ve played in Chicago I’ve played in all these big towns all these big cities football stadiums before they were soccer right and and I go into Chicago into the stadium there which was like a Roman Coliseum and it you got I went in and I went the first time I went out and Bill folks was with me and Bill said you’ll be surprised at what’s there now this is a 100,000 seat plus okay and I walk out and I look at this Coliseum and it’s got and I went holy and the fills AstroTurf and it’s got a little bit of a bank on it you know and I looked it and I turn and I went Bill where where where’s where’s the fans he turn and he went turn around and they were sitting all by that there was about 3,000 of them sitting by the tunnel waiting for us to come out and I went oh my gosh and it’s the first time I come to the states and when I played as well and I went woo and everywhere we went there was cheerleaders bands bill folks threatened to put a drummer through the wall because he was behind the bench playing this drum so loud Bill turn around and said if you don’t beat beep he says I’m going to hit you with it and it was like and we we’d sit there with the with the with the English L and say they certainly know how to put on a show and that’s what the World Cup is going to be that’s the one thing I did enjoy when I went to America last year San Diego at the Snap Dragon stadium it was very sort of like show busy and I did I must admit I did like all the the pre-match rasat it doesn’t kind of sit right or feel right in the UK when we got a different sort of culture but it does feel like it’s all part of the American experience and when we went to Las Vegas we they played a match at the uh the American Football Stadium it was kind of awesome to be honest and one thing they do do on a massive scale has build super duper stadium so I think fans from all over the world will enjoy going to watch the World Cup in America just to experience the Fantastic stadiums I think the nice thing about it would be the stadiums that they’ve got they can obviously convert into grass they got to put it into grass you can’t play on the astr turf that is false so you’ve got the World Cup there on grass the stadiums now are built for their teams you know so what’s going to happen is is that the stadiums are built because if you look at a stadium you’re looking not down at the sidelines you’re looking really to the middle of the field where most of the players so you’re looking at at that and the five yards and what got got us was the first time was the lines you got a different color for the football pitch and you had a different color for the NFL so you’d say and you know and the referee say 10 yards well that weren’t odd because you had a 5 yard 10 yard line and it was a different color so you you you you got used to that but then you look up and and one story that I did have is I went to watch Chelsey when I lived in Dallas at the new Jerry Jones Stadium the Dallas you know stadium and they they were it was just unbelievable it just built it and they got escalators up that people at the bottom are saying uh which sweet are you in sir and taking you up to your sweet not like mil wall where they didn’t give a monkeys what happened and ite cow Lane and it was cold and so you went up and you got shown to your site but this site had a bathroom in it and a little and and and seats that reclined so to speak so you couldn’t it was built up so you couldn’t see the edge of the field because it was built close to the field and so they said I tell you this and I went whoa and they Chelsea played on the AstroTurf and they put the AstroTurf on top of the concrete holy moly John I spoke to I spoke to Frank I spoke to John Terry I spoke to a couple of the boys and I and they said we’re not going to play on it and they didn’t play on it because as they slid on the new turf and so what I found is the Americans are very good at putting stuff down picking it up if they need an astr tur field tomorrow boom I played on ice when they put carpet on top of ice and toward towards the end of it the ice the white ice was coming through and you were slipping so you know that was it and of course things have got better and better and now the now the now the the city have got their stadiums which has been and that’s really nice progress but playing on that stuff like you know and they asur slide tackling I tell you what you’ve never seen a burn like it it was just and it was like sandpaper but it’s sophisticated enough now that the stadiums are built very similar to what we have in the UK to hold a certain amount of people which is which is great and and that’s the you know what’s the progress has been in the United States and of course everybody that plays on them now the fields are exactly the same as what we have at home so it’s nice to see that soccer’s got its own stadiums it will have its own audience and it will be a spectacular absolutely fantastic looking forward to it we’ve run out of time and uh I think it’s going be fascinating I think it’s clear from what we’ve talked about today even without any scripting and without any preorganization what we’re going to talk about that you’ve got so much knowledge about football in America and I think it’s going to be fascinating as we count down to the these tournaments the club World Cup and the soccer World Cup the FIFA World Cup in 2026 it’s going to be fascinating to have your Insight Gordon so I’m looking forward to us talking again on many occasions hopefully as we count down to the World Cups it’s going to be a very interesting World Cup it’s going to be you know as I said I’m not too far away so I will be I will be keeping tabs on everything and to find out and it’ll be lovely to see you know the the Europeans and the South American teams come and put on a spectacle because it will be you know as I said it will be first class I know that Seattle are very excited I’m pleased for them you know they’ve got a smashing club and it’ll be very very pleasing to see that and then I obviously I’ll travel out and maybe pop down to California which is just down the coast and it’s beautiful because if you can’t get a bus to some of these places it’ll take you three days to get there yeah yeah yeah so you’re in a plane yeah I’m looking forward to I like to say I’m looking forward to maybe seeing you at the final in New York because uh it sounds like a good destination and a place that we canoy enjoy a football match you fly six hours to Toronto that’s to New York and I’ll fly six hours because that’s the distance from Seattle to New York and New York to London or is six hours just over six hours meet in the middle then well you swim and I’ll take a cup on that thought then we’ll see all the viewers next time and thanks Gordon thanks for joining us from I I look forward to seeing everybody [Music]