Jump to content

Graeme Le Saux

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 202.65.245.7 (talk) at 12:49, 10 March 2013 (→‎Homophobic abuse: Oh 'cause gay guys couldn't possibly breed). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Graeme Le Saux
Graeme Le Saux, 2011
Personal information
Full name Graeme Pierre Le Saux
Date of birth (1968-10-17) 17 October 1968 (age 55)
Place of birth Jersey, Channel Islands
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s) Left-back, Left wing
Team information
Current team
 Wembley
Number 31
Youth career
1986–1987 St Paul's (Jersey)
1987–1989 Chelsea
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1993 Chelsea 90 (8)
1993–1997 Blackburn Rovers 129 (7)
1997–2003 Chelsea 140 (4)
2003–2005 Southampton 44 (1)
2012– Wembley 0 (0)
Total 403 (20)
International career
1990 England U21 4 (0)
1991–1992 England B 2 (0)
1994–2000 England 36 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Graeme Pierre Le Saux (/[invalid input: 'icon']ləˈsoʊ/ lə-SOH; born 17 October 1968 in Jersey) is an English footballer of French ancestry.[1] He is currently registered for the non-League club Wembley F.C.. He previously played for Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers and Southampton, and for the England national football team. Primarily a left back, he was sometimes also played in midfield or on the left wing.

After beginning playing in Jersey, he moved to England and debuted for Chelsea in 1989. He left Chelsea in 1993 to join the Blackburn side being built by wealthy benefactor, Jack Walker, and was part of their 1994–95 Premier League winning team. In 1997 he returned to Chelsea, staying there for six seasons until moving to Southampton in 2003. He announced his retirement from football upon Southampton's relegation from the Premier League in 2005.

In his club playing career, he scored 20 goals from 403 club appearances. He was twice named in the Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year, in 1995 with Blackburn and in 1998 with Chelsea. His return to Chelsea in 1997 in a £5 million transfer made him the most expensive defender in English football. As an England international, he made 36 senior appearances from 1994 until 2000, including starting all four England games at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, and scoring one international goal, against Brazil.

Club career

Chelsea

Le Saux started his career at St Paul's of Jersey before moving to Chelsea in 1987 after being spotted playing in a local tournament by manager John Hollins. He made his debut for the club two years later against Portsmouth and had become a regular by the 1990-91 season. His first stint at Chelsea ended in controversy, though. Angry at continually being substituted, he snapped when he was subbed again during a match with Southampton and threw his shirt to the ground as he stormed past manager Ian Porterfield. He was sold to Blackburn Rovers in March 1993 for £700,000.

Blackburn Rovers

Le Saux arrived at Blackburn as part of wealthy benefactor Jack Walker and manager Kenny Dalglish's plan to establish the club as one of the country's top sides, and joined an impressive side containing the likes of Alan Shearer and Tim Flowers. Blackburn finished second in Le Saux's first full season, and were crowned Premier League champions a year later, with Le Saux a near ever-present. He missed the second half of the following season due to a broken ankle which also ruled him out of Euro 96, but was still caught up in controversy after fighting with team-mate David Batty during a UEFA Champions League tie with FC Spartak Moscow.

Return to Chelsea

In August 1997, Le Saux became the most expensive defender in English football when he returned to Chelsea in a £5 million deal. Always a regular when available, Le Saux's second spell with Chelsea was often interrupted by injury or suspension. He remained there for six seasons, and was an important part of the side which won the League Cup and Cup Winners' Cup in 1998 and the FA Cup in 2000, though he missed two of those finals through injury.

Southampton

He was swapped in a part-exchange deal with Southampton for Wayne Bridge in 2003. Le Saux played for another two seasons before announcing his retirement in May 2005 following Southampton's relegation from the Premiership. He scored two goals for Southampton, scoring once in the league against Norwich City[2] and once in the League Cup against Bristol City.[3]

Wembley F.C.

In June 2012, he was one of several former professional footballers who agreed to join Wembley F.C. to play in their FA Cup campaign for the new season. Le Saux and fellow former-internationals Ray Parlour, Martin Keown, Claudio Caniggia and Brian McBride, plus David Seaman (goalkeeping coach) and former England manager Terry Venables (technical advisor), have come out of retirement to play for Wembley F.C. who were featured in a television documentary as they endeavour to help the club play at Wembley Stadium.[4]

International career

Le Saux was capped 36 times for England. He made his first appearance in a friendly win over Denmark and played at the 1998 World Cup, appearing in every game as England reached the second round. Le Saux's only international goal came against Brazil on 11 June 1995 in the Umbro Cup, with a powerful shot from outside the penalty area. It came 18th in a recent poll of the greatest ever England goals.

Homophobic abuse

Further information: Homosexuality in English football § Homophobia

Despite being married with two children,[5] rumours of Le Saux's homosexuality circulated throughout his career. He attributed this to his lack of enthusiasm for the 'typical' footballer's lifestyle, his university background, and the fact that he read a left-wing broadsheet newspaper, The Guardian. This led to abuse from opposition fans and even players. He became involved in a running series of taunts with Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler during a Chelsea game versus Liverpool on 27 February 1999. In the game, Fowler repeatedly bent over and pointed his backside in Le Saux's direction, causing him to delay taking a free kick and be booked for time wasting. Unseen by the match officials, Le Saux later struck Fowler on the edge of the Chelsea penalty area.[6] Both were later charged with misconduct by the FA.[7] In a later interview with The Times, Le Saux said, "More than anything in my career, that offended me. What [Fowler] did was wrong and he has never admitted that. He still talks as if it was a bit of a laugh."[8]

After football

Following his retirement he worked as a pundit for the BBC on both their Match of the Day 2 television highlights show, and for their BBC Radio 5 Live station. He left the BBC's sport team on 31 March 2006 after losing his commentary seat for England's World Cup games to Mark Lawrenson.

In other television appearances, in 2007 Le Saux was a finalist on the game show Vernon Kay's Gameshow Marathon; in 2009 he competed in series 4 of the talent show Dancing on Ice, being voted off in the first round; and on 17 August 2010 he was profiled by the BBC's The One Show magazine programme.

In finance, Le Saux has reported and presented occasionally for BBC Two's business news programme Working Lunch, while in 2006, he joined ABN AMRO Bank's UK private banking team in the role of Ambassador for their Sports Desk.

In September 2007, Le Saux published his autobiography Left Field - A Footballer Apart.

Honours

Club

Chelsea
Blackburn Rovers

International

England

Individual

References

Notes

  1. ^ What’s your story? Graeme Pierre Le Saux: A game of two halves
  2. ^ "Southampton 4-3 Norwich". BBC. 30 April 2005. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  3. ^ "Bristol City 0-3 Southampton". BBC. 28 October 2003. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  4. ^ "Terry Venables' Wembley FC recruit former stars for FA Cup". BBC Sport. 21 June 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  5. ^ Graeme Le Saux with wife Mariana and son Lucas and daughter Georgina
  6. ^ "Le Saux should have gone, admits ref". BBC Sport. 28 February 1999. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  7. ^ "Anger over gay taunts". BBC Sport. 3 March 1999. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  8. ^ "How gay slurs almost wrecked my career". News. London: The Times Online. 9 October 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2007. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

Template:Dancing On Ice Series 4 Template:Fighting Talk

Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Graeme_Le_Saux&oldid=543210948"