The latest episode of the A-Leagues’ new podcast My Football Passport, hosted by James Dodd, welcomes special guest Emile Heskey to discuss his time in Australia with Newcastle Jets and more. Listen below, or on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, to hear more about his early years, time at Leicester, Liverpool and in England’s national team.
Ten years on from his arrival in Australia as a superstar A-Leagues marquee, Emile Heskey is still glad he took a phone call from fellow former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler that sparked his interest.
A UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FA Cup winner with Liverpool, former England international Heskey had just come off a 28-match campaign at Aston Villa before moving to Newcastle Jets – a coup that created great hype not only for the Jets but for the A-Leagues, where he was a billboard addition alongside Alessandro Del Piero (Sydney FC) and Shinji Ono (Western Sydney Wanderers).
The Jets sold out of his shirts upon the announcement of his arrival – scoring nine goals in his first season. He finished his two-year spell with 10 goals.
The 44-year-old – now working with Leicester City Women’s side – still remembers his time Down Under fondly, and reminiscing on his time on this week’s episode of My Football Passport, explained how it all came out.
“I’d spoken to Robbie Fowler,” Heskey told James Dodd.
“At the time my son and Robbie’s son were playing football together. I had a little chat with Robbie and he said if I’d consider playing in Australia.
“I asked what it was like. He was talking about it, selling it, type of thing. I think at the time they were trying to get Robbie to be an ambassador for the A-League.
“He said ‘look I know [CEO] Robbie Middleby’, he played with me when I was playing at North Queensland Fury and they’re interested’. I said okay, get them to send me a contract, let me have a look at it and then I’ll come have a look at the club.
“But it’s not like you can come and have a look at the club – like you can fly to Milan in a day and fly back in the evening …
“In the end I just said: let’s do it! It kind of happened so quickly and in the end I’m on a flight for 24 hours or even longer.”
Heskey arrived from the furnace of the Premier League, where he enjoyed a trophy-laden stint with Liverpool, which also saw him part England’s national side, a famously underachieving ‘Golden Generation’.
The pressure and scrutiny was relentless; life in Australia presented a very different football lifestyle, one which he “loved”.
It also allowed him to take on a mentor role.
“I was loving it,” Heskey recalled of life outside of England.
“It was different for me. Even though I’m a senior player in the English setup, because a lot of the younger players they’ve been in that system a long time, they wouldn’t ask too many questions.
“Whereas in Australia, asking questions, you can get involved a lot more, be a mentor for them. It was fascinating.
“It was frustrating at times because if I look at my kids, they’ve been in a footballing system since the age of four and one of them is 16. That’s 12 years being in a system. Whereas I think in Australia it’s totally different unless you’re going to the institute of sport.
“A lot of them are coming from university, not really had the full-on training and real dedication to the sport. So they’re coming in and you’re looking at them thinking ‘why aren’t you doing this?’
“People might get frustrated with them but not one is actually telling them. So it was an interesting one for me to actually sit down with them and show them stuff, talk to them.
“Now you look at Craig Goodwin, flying at the minute. He was a young lad when I was there. He had a lot of talent and I was thinking, you’d do well abroad. He’s gone abroad and come back, now look. He is a fantastic player, even (was) then.”
Heskey took on a mentor role with players like Goodwin, who has since gone on to become a Socceroo and Adelaide United’s all-time leading scorer in the ALM, having tasted European football via Sparta Rotterdam.
Heskey brought a wealth of experience to Newcastle, having made a name for himself at boyhood club Leicester City, where he won two League Cup titles in the 90s.
The Leicester-born striker played alongside the likes of Fowler, Michael Owen and Steve Gerrard at Anfield, while he also spent time with Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic and Aston Villa in the Premier League.
Heskey hit the ground running in the A-League Men, scoring against Del Piero’s Sydney in the second round of the 2012-13 campaign.
It was a magical night at Allianz Stadium, where 35,419 fans watched Del Piero and Heskey go head-to-head, with the Jets coming out on top 3-2.
Heskey found the back of the net against Melbourne Victory (twice), Sydney (twice), Central Coast Mariners, Western Sydney Wanderers, Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne Heart (now Melbourne City) in his first season as the Jets finished eighth.
