David Seaman: Ronaldinho’s Goal, Gazza’s Pain & Wenger’s Genius (E416)

**David Seaman** (0:04)
As a goalkeeper, you're literally 10 seconds away from a major mistake, no matter how well you've played in that game. You made that one mistake, that's what everybody will remember. When the ball was coming over, I was thinking to myself, hit the ball, hit the ball, and I heard it hit the net. And then it's like, what's going to happen now? I came out of my net, Bex and Sven talking to me, but got no idea what they said to me.

**Jake Humphrey** (0:23)
Can we talk about the day that Arsene Wenger walked through the door?

**David Seaman** (0:25)
Who? Arsene who?
His first week, he changed everything, and Arsene's encouraging him to pass it and play. I'm like, wow, never shouting, just little instructions every single game.

**Jake Humphrey** (0:41)
Which of those three holds the best memory?

**David Seaman** (0:43)
The night. You're an ice-hakes one. Yeah, because as much as it wasn't a successful tournament, it was, but we didn't win it. Do you know what I mean?
It was special. You know, we went into that under massive pressure.
You know, everybody wanting Gazza out the squad and all that sort of stuff. You know, it was quite a lot of pressure going around, but then we draw with Switzerland in the first game. You know, so that would even built it even more. And then we've got Scotland next, so. Yeah, it was a special tournament, because for me, I felt the England team made England fans love England again. You know, because before it was a little bit volatile.

**Jake Humphrey** (1:28)
Yeah, and what do you think happened that made them love England again?

**David Seaman** (1:33)
They just saw us coming back from hardly... We went to Singapore, and a certain Mr. Gascoigne decided to do the dentist chair.

**Jake Humphrey** (1:44)
Yeah.

**David Seaman** (1:45)
And then all the pictures came out from that, and the fallout from that wasn't very good. So I don't think the country felt that we were preparing the right way or whatever, but it was just our depression. Yeah.

**Damian Seaman** (1:58)
Were you there that night in Singapore? No.

**David Seaman** (2:01)
I would have been, and this is why I wasn't.
So we played against a blimmin dog and duck 11 in Singapore and beat them about 11-10 or whatever it was. And then we got told we could have a night out because we were flying back the next day. So I go up to my room and I start getting changed and that, and I just come out of the shower, I sat on the bed, put the telly on, and it was Arsenal against Sheff Wednesday Cup final. I was like, oh, I watched this for a little bit, and that was it, a bump.

**Jake Humphrey** (2:33)
Well, you fell asleep.

**David Seaman** (2:34)
I fell asleep, exactly. And then I woke up the next morning, like go down for breakfast, and I'm hearing about all the carnage that went on, and all the fun as well.

**Jake Humphrey** (2:44)
Yeah, that's the interesting thing, though, isn't it? I think the press picked up on that as a wholly negative thing.

**David Seaman** (2:49)
Yes.

**Jake Humphrey** (2:49)
But in a team, I wonder whether actually, and we can talk later as well about Arsenal, because there was a lot of more recent criticism about the Tuesday Club and the drinking that went on. But I wonder what the value is in those moments actually for team spirit.

**David Seaman** (3:04)
For players, I think it's massive, because everybody gets together. Even like some, not with England, but with Arsenal, like when you said about the Tuesday Club, some of the shyer players, they came along, and it brings them into their squad, it brings them into the squad even more.

**Jake Humphrey** (3:19)
I want to talk a bit about Euro 96, because you talk about the pressure and the scrutiny that comes with playing for England, but I never felt that you felt that, because the easy smile, the ponytail, the laugh, that's like you almost looked like the calm member of those England squads to me.

**David Seaman** (3:38)
Yeah, I was.
Inside, there's a lot more going on than I was showing, because as a goalkeeper, you're literally 10 seconds away from a major mistake, and no matter how well you've played in that game, you made that one mistake, that's what everybody will remember, and that happened a couple of times, like massive ones. But that's just the way I was. When I was getting ready in the dressing room, I would be nice and calm. Martin Keane, he used to say to me, if I felt myself getting too excited or whatever, he said, I'd just look over at you, and he says, you'd be there, just like deadpan. I was just concentrating, and he said, but that helped him.