The
Gary Pallister Interview
Gary,
How hard did you find the process of writing
your autobiography and did you enjoy the experience?
I really enjoyed it actually. I had turned down a few offers immediately
after I retired but felt the time was right to tell my story,
including putting the record straight as to why I left Boro. I
sat down with Ivan (Ponting – author) for a few days and
it was fun trying to remember exact dates and going through each
stage of my career in turn.
You're in the rare position of being a legend
with two teams, United and Middlesbrough. Which of these teams
do you most closely identify with?
As a player I am probably most identified with United, but I had
been watching Middlesbrough since I was 6 years old and my passion
for football grew there. I have great memories of both and put
it this way, when they play each other I support whoever needs
the points the most at that time!
When you arrived at United as a British
record signing how did you cope with the pressure?
I was lucky enough to have a number of other new signings around
me when I joined – Webb, Phelan, Wallace etc so that really
helped as you help each other. The staff at the Club helped too
and really you just have to be professional and get on with it!
What would you say was the best moment of
your playing career?
For me there are two – one was that long awaited league
title for United, a wonderful moment. The other was the one moment
that I wish I could bottle up and sample again and again –
Rotterdam. The whole atmosphere surrounding the game, celebrating,
the open top bus, more celebrating! A brilliant experience for
everybody.
The United dressing room, when you were
at OT, was full of strong personalities. Did that cause problems
amongst you? (Feel free to name names!)
I honestly believe that any winning team has a dressing room full
of strong personalities and that was true at Old Trafford. There
were disagreements just like at any club but I can’t remember
anything that would have made front page news. We had a great
ethic and a great spirit and used our “Club Meetings”
(trips out for a drink or two) as bonding sessions. Everyone came,
including Eric and even a few people who didn’t drink, and
they were great for morale. On the pitch you would do anything
for the team – regardless of how well you got on away from
it.
How hard was it to leave United?
It was hard for sure. I had seen other players leave when they
didn’t really want to and was determined that I would walk
away with my head held high and none of the tears or dramatics.
When I look back now I see that Jaap Stam had come in and Wes
Brown was coming through, I had had my time. I could have seen
out the last year of my contract and really only the combination
of Middlesbrough and Bryan Robson could have persuaded me to leave.
When you look back over your career you
had major success but do you have any regrets?
No regrets is what I say! It’s easy to look back and wonder
about whether I could have been playing in ’99 but when
I played for Darlington all I wanted was to be a professional
footballer and if I played for Darlo for my whole career I would
have been happy. It’s best to look back and realise how
lucky you are I think.
Why didn't you go into coaching and management?
One simple reason – it’s too time consuming! I keep
in touch with the game through my media work and that’s
enough for me.
Do you still keep in close contact with
any of the great United team which you played in?
It’s not easy to stay in touch as so many of us busy doing
other things – quite a few of the lads are managing in the
Premier League of course! I speak to Lee Sharpe and Steve Bruce
most often, see Robbo from time to time and others like Paul Parker
and Dennis Irwin through MUTV.
And finally.... did you ever receive the
hairdryer treatment from Sir Alex?
Yes – but you’d better read the book to hear all about
that one!
Thanks Gary, for the interview, for the
brilliant performances and for all the great memories!
=o=o=o=o=o=
