No matter what he does in life, Jason McAteer will always be known as a "Spice Boy".
The 36-year-old newly-retired footballer doesn't like it, but he accepts that most fans have a perception of him based on the following facts and assumptions: Jason is famously less-than-brainy. Jason dated models and pop stars. Jason appeared in a shampoo advert on TV. And, crucially, Jason was part of that much-maligned crop of high-profile Liverpool players - Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, David James, Stan Collymore, Jamie Redknapp - who failed to convert their talent into the silverware their supporters craved.
He may only have been at Anfield for three-and-a-half years but it seems McAteer's 16-year career in football has been defined by that Cup Final pre-match walkabout in a white Armani suit. Plus the fact he was handed the nickname "Trigger" (after a gormless character in a British TV show) by the Reds' dressing room upon his arrival in 1995.
Yet this is a man who also played in Ireland's astonishing 1994 World Cup win over Italy. This is the man who scored the goal that sent the Irish to the 2002 World Cup at the expense of the Dutch - a goal which U2 singer Bono lovingly referred to in one of the band's most memorable concert performances.
Four months after he quit the game, Jason is working as a guest analyst with ESPN STAR Sports in Singapore. I interviewed him this week and began by asking him to describe himself in 20 words or less. He only needed one.
"Misunderstood."
It wasn't said with any bitterness or anger, but rather with a knowing smile.
"You know, when I was younger I sometimes had a bad habit of opening my mouth and speaking before I had engaged my brain," he shrugged. "And I like a laugh. In the early days it worked for me. Half the time I played up to it."
McAteer was happy to engage the persona of an amiable clown because it helped him along in his football career. Managers would happily play him out of position because they knew he wouldn't complain. It meant he got to do what he wanted to do most and that was play football.
It mattered the most at Liverpool, the club he had supported as a kid growing up on the Wirral, idolizing Kenny Dalglish and developing his own talent as a box-to-box midfielder with the Birkenhead Boys Club and then non-league Marine.
When Jason's performances for his first club, Bolton Wanderers, caught the eye of Liverpool boss Roy Evans, he realized his boyhood dream and arrived at Anfield for £4.5 million.
Sure enough, he was played out of position, as a wing-back or fullback. McAteer gave his all but the team failed to land the league title he felt they were good enough to win, especially in 1996. He also had to endure life in the shadow of Sir Alex Ferguson's supposedly squeaky clean crop of youngster at Old Trafford.
"That Spice Boys thing was so wrong," he insists. "Yes, it was brilliant to have the money and all that went with it but I can assure you not one of us ever did anything that was wrong or unprofessional. Not one of us went out on a Friday night before a game or drank too much when we shouldn't have. It's just that we under-achieved."
That under-achievement led to the worst moment of McAteer's football career. With Gerard Houllier taking over from Roy Evans, McAteer was deemed surplus to requirements. He left for Blackburn.
"I would have played for Liverpool for nothing," he admits. "When I left I cried for a week and it's fair to say that after I left Liverpool, football just became a job."
He took a £6,000-a-week drop to go to Blackburn, then went to Sunderland for £4,000 less and ended his career at Tranmere on £16,000 less a week.
Of course he had already made himself financially comfortable but there is an honesty to Jason McAteer that makes his statement about playing for nothing thoroughly credible. So too his admission to having been an emotional mess after his teary departure from Anfield.
He cried at Blackburn and had to leave because he was seriously considering quitting the game altogether. He cried during the managerial upheavals at Sunderland, where he was most famous for his World Cup-related row with United skipper Roy Keane. He cried at Tranmere when his body decided it had had enough of football.
With Jason McAteer what you see is what you get: humour, honesty, loyalty. Tears.
When McAteer and Liverpool toured Southeast Asia in 1996 he was amazed by the warmth of the reception. He loved the trip, he loved the people he met. So when he sat in horror and watched televised images of the Boxing Day 2004 Asian tsunami, he knew he had to act.
With help from an agent friend, Liverpool's chief executive Rick Parry and his friends from the worlds of football and showbiz, McAteer arranged an Easter Sunday 2005 Tsunami Soccer Aid match. The likes of Ian Rush and Alan Hansen played a team of pop stars and actors in front of 39,000 at Anfield. More than £500,000 was raised for two tsunami relief charities.
"It would have been easy to have just put my hand in my pocket, given £20 and forgotten about it, but I wanted to do more," he said bluntly.
It was a gut reaction, and McAteer moved on it even before he had figured the whole thing our. Within days of suggesting the match he was experiencing misgivings. But that was where his charm, honesty and extraordinary phone book came in handy. Those who could help said, yes, and made the project a reality.
That episode alone says a lot about a man who really is misunderstood by those who have not met him, but not by those who have.
The 36-year-old newly-retired footballer doesn't like it, but he accepts that most fans have a perception of him based on the following facts and assumptions: Jason is famously less-than-brainy. Jason dated models and pop stars. Jason appeared in a shampoo advert on TV. And, crucially, Jason was part of that much-maligned crop of high-profile Liverpool players - Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, David James, Stan Collymore, Jamie Redknapp - who failed to convert their talent into the silverware their supporters craved.
He may only have been at Anfield for three-and-a-half years but it seems McAteer's 16-year career in football has been defined by that Cup Final pre-match walkabout in a white Armani suit. Plus the fact he was handed the nickname "Trigger" (after a gormless character in a British TV show) by the Reds' dressing room upon his arrival in 1995.
Yet this is a man who also played in Ireland's astonishing 1994 World Cup win over Italy. This is the man who scored the goal that sent the Irish to the 2002 World Cup at the expense of the Dutch - a goal which U2 singer Bono lovingly referred to in one of the band's most memorable concert performances.
Four months after he quit the game, Jason is working as a guest analyst with ESPN STAR Sports in Singapore. I interviewed him this week and began by asking him to describe himself in 20 words or less. He only needed one.
"Misunderstood."
It wasn't said with any bitterness or anger, but rather with a knowing smile.
"You know, when I was younger I sometimes had a bad habit of opening my mouth and speaking before I had engaged my brain," he shrugged. "And I like a laugh. In the early days it worked for me. Half the time I played up to it."
McAteer was happy to engage the persona of an amiable clown because it helped him along in his football career. Managers would happily play him out of position because they knew he wouldn't complain. It meant he got to do what he wanted to do most and that was play football.
It mattered the most at Liverpool, the club he had supported as a kid growing up on the Wirral, idolizing Kenny Dalglish and developing his own talent as a box-to-box midfielder with the Birkenhead Boys Club and then non-league Marine.
When Jason's performances for his first club, Bolton Wanderers, caught the eye of Liverpool boss Roy Evans, he realized his boyhood dream and arrived at Anfield for £4.5 million.
Sure enough, he was played out of position, as a wing-back or fullback. McAteer gave his all but the team failed to land the league title he felt they were good enough to win, especially in 1996. He also had to endure life in the shadow of Sir Alex Ferguson's supposedly squeaky clean crop of youngster at Old Trafford.
"That Spice Boys thing was so wrong," he insists. "Yes, it was brilliant to have the money and all that went with it but I can assure you not one of us ever did anything that was wrong or unprofessional. Not one of us went out on a Friday night before a game or drank too much when we shouldn't have. It's just that we under-achieved."
That under-achievement led to the worst moment of McAteer's football career. With Gerard Houllier taking over from Roy Evans, McAteer was deemed surplus to requirements. He left for Blackburn.
"I would have played for Liverpool for nothing," he admits. "When I left I cried for a week and it's fair to say that after I left Liverpool, football just became a job."
He took a £6,000-a-week drop to go to Blackburn, then went to Sunderland for £4,000 less and ended his career at Tranmere on £16,000 less a week.
Of course he had already made himself financially comfortable but there is an honesty to Jason McAteer that makes his statement about playing for nothing thoroughly credible. So too his admission to having been an emotional mess after his teary departure from Anfield.
He cried at Blackburn and had to leave because he was seriously considering quitting the game altogether. He cried during the managerial upheavals at Sunderland, where he was most famous for his World Cup-related row with United skipper Roy Keane. He cried at Tranmere when his body decided it had had enough of football.
With Jason McAteer what you see is what you get: humour, honesty, loyalty. Tears.
When McAteer and Liverpool toured Southeast Asia in 1996 he was amazed by the warmth of the reception. He loved the trip, he loved the people he met. So when he sat in horror and watched televised images of the Boxing Day 2004 Asian tsunami, he knew he had to act.
With help from an agent friend, Liverpool's chief executive Rick Parry and his friends from the worlds of football and showbiz, McAteer arranged an Easter Sunday 2005 Tsunami Soccer Aid match. The likes of Ian Rush and Alan Hansen played a team of pop stars and actors in front of 39,000 at Anfield. More than £500,000 was raised for two tsunami relief charities.
"It would have been easy to have just put my hand in my pocket, given £20 and forgotten about it, but I wanted to do more," he said bluntly.
It was a gut reaction, and McAteer moved on it even before he had figured the whole thing our. Within days of suggesting the match he was experiencing misgivings. But that was where his charm, honesty and extraordinary phone book came in handy. Those who could help said, yes, and made the project a reality.
That episode alone says a lot about a man who really is misunderstood by those who have not met him, but not by those who have.
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