Pat Nevin was a talented, expressive forward, most notably for Chelsea, Everton, Tranmere and Scotland. His interest in indie music, art and literature set him apart from his peers.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6291999/Pat-Nevins-passion-arts-set-apart-love-affair-football-undimmed.html
Pat Nevin’s father taught him football by spying on Jock Stein’s Celtic training sessions.
Patrick Snr worked on the railways and was a decent boxer, but the drills stolen from Stein and prepared for his son every night in Glasgow's tough East End were perhaps his greatest work.
When Nevin was playing for his first big club, Chelsea, in the mid-1980s, his dad would come to watch.
He used to leave before the final whistle to get home but Nevin had his own way of saying goodbye. ‘I used to do one dribble every single game, just for him,’ Nevin said, smiling. ‘It was a message. Hello, goodbye and thanks.
‘Sometimes it was a mazy run from my own box. Sometimes it involved going round the same man three times. Then I’d look up. There you are dad, for you.
‘Sometimes there would be a goal on the end of it. Usually not. But it was cool because he had taught me all of it.’
Nevin was a talented, expressive forward most notably for Chelsea, Everton, Tranmere and Scotland.
These days, he is a diverse broadcaster, predominantly for BBC radio. But if the story about his father smacks a little of innocence, then there was some of that. Nevin always loved football but never wished it to define him.
‘I was never really part of what you may call the game,’ he said. ‘I didn’t care for money and never wanted to be famous, a horrible thought.’
Now 55, Nevin was asked recently why he had never been a manager. He replied: ‘Because I like life.’
They called Nevin lots of things in the 1980s and not all of them were nice. Playing for Chelsea at West Ham, he was called a ‘poof’ by a supporter in the Chicken Run and responded by blowing him a kiss. ‘He was furious but behind him they were all laughing,’ said Nevin.
The player who left Clyde for Chelsea at 19 was certainly different. At first he said no as he was part-way through a university degree.
Nevin’s interest in indie music, art and literature set him apart from his peers and in some ways still does. On Saturday after co-commentating on Chelsea’s game with Manchester United, he will DJ at the Shacklewell Arms in Dalston, East London. It will finish at 3am and he will commentate on Everton v Crystal Palace later that day. ‘I like driving,’ he shrugged. ‘I can listen to podcasts and music.’
Dubbed a ‘football intellectual’ by the late Tony Gubba of the BBC and ‘Britain’s first post-Punk footballer’ by the NME, Nevin wore his long hair and a leather jacket as symbols of wilful individuality at a time when to be different in English football was almost sinful.
He shared a flat in London with the NME editor, wrote a column for the music newspaper, didn’t drink beer — he prefers wine — and spent his spare time in the studio with iconic radio DJ John Peel. The two remained close until Peel’s death in 2004.
In the Chelsea dressing room — a place inhabited by players such as Kerry Dixon and David Speedie —they called him ‘weirdo’ and it was only partly in jest.
Nevin is a small, slight man with glasses. So how did he cope?
‘I guess it came from strength of personality from my parents and education,’ he told Sportsmail this week. ‘And I was from Glasgow’s East End, tougher than I looked.
‘People took the mick and I was like, “Really? Is that the best you can do?” When you don’t back down it blindsides them. Then there is a bit of respect for this wee bloke in the corner. Maybe I should have gone to the bad nightclubs with them at least once.
‘Yeah, maybe I was a weirdo. Actually I went once and I was introduced to Elton John. One of the players made an horrendous comment to him, homophobic. It crushed him. So I gave the lad a piece of my mind. He backed off.
‘One night a nice girl tried to chat me up and the lads were egging me on. But I had a girlfriend — she is my wife now — so I said I wasn’t interested and the lads asked me if I was gay.
‘Sometimes I revelled in the difference, but there were things I didn’t let on about. On a Thursday morning at training, would I tell them I had spent the night before at the royal ballet at Covent Garden? No, of course not.’
Nevin was successful at Chelsea. He played almost 200 league games, was Player of the Year twice and popularity came with it. He was indulged by manager John Neal, too. Nevin once left a pre-season game at half-time to go to a Cocteau Twins gig and would wear headphones while Neal gave his team talk.
‘It was my first Walkman and only I had one,’ he said. ‘But John was great. Once we had scored three, he let me do whatever I liked with the ball. Party time. And I think he knew about the dribble I used to do for my dad.’
In 1984, after scoring in a Friday win at Manchester City, Nevin skipped the team bus home to go to the town’s famous Hacienda nightclub, sleeping on the platform at Piccadilly Station before travelling south.
Once, with Chelsea leading the same opposition 4-0, he took one of the worst penalties of all time, off a half-yard run-up. So many people ask him about it, he got the clip uploaded You Tube.
He may have got a harder time had he not been so valuable a player.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6291999/Pat-Nevins-passion-arts-set-apart-love-affair-football-undimmed.html
Pat Nevin’s father taught him football by spying on Jock Stein’s Celtic training sessions.
Patrick Snr worked on the railways and was a decent boxer, but the drills stolen from Stein and prepared for his son every night in Glasgow's tough East End were perhaps his greatest work.
When Nevin was playing for his first big club, Chelsea, in the mid-1980s, his dad would come to watch.
He used to leave before the final whistle to get home but Nevin had his own way of saying goodbye. ‘I used to do one dribble every single game, just for him,’ Nevin said, smiling. ‘It was a message. Hello, goodbye and thanks.
‘Sometimes it was a mazy run from my own box. Sometimes it involved going round the same man three times. Then I’d look up. There you are dad, for you.
‘Sometimes there would be a goal on the end of it. Usually not. But it was cool because he had taught me all of it.’
Nevin was a talented, expressive forward most notably for Chelsea, Everton, Tranmere and Scotland.
These days, he is a diverse broadcaster, predominantly for BBC radio. But if the story about his father smacks a little of innocence, then there was some of that. Nevin always loved football but never wished it to define him.
‘I was never really part of what you may call the game,’ he said. ‘I didn’t care for money and never wanted to be famous, a horrible thought.’
Now 55, Nevin was asked recently why he had never been a manager. He replied: ‘Because I like life.’
They called Nevin lots of things in the 1980s and not all of them were nice. Playing for Chelsea at West Ham, he was called a ‘poof’ by a supporter in the Chicken Run and responded by blowing him a kiss. ‘He was furious but behind him they were all laughing,’ said Nevin.
The player who left Clyde for Chelsea at 19 was certainly different. At first he said no as he was part-way through a university degree.
Nevin’s interest in indie music, art and literature set him apart from his peers and in some ways still does. On Saturday after co-commentating on Chelsea’s game with Manchester United, he will DJ at the Shacklewell Arms in Dalston, East London. It will finish at 3am and he will commentate on Everton v Crystal Palace later that day. ‘I like driving,’ he shrugged. ‘I can listen to podcasts and music.’
Dubbed a ‘football intellectual’ by the late Tony Gubba of the BBC and ‘Britain’s first post-Punk footballer’ by the NME, Nevin wore his long hair and a leather jacket as symbols of wilful individuality at a time when to be different in English football was almost sinful.
He shared a flat in London with the NME editor, wrote a column for the music newspaper, didn’t drink beer — he prefers wine — and spent his spare time in the studio with iconic radio DJ John Peel. The two remained close until Peel’s death in 2004.
In the Chelsea dressing room — a place inhabited by players such as Kerry Dixon and David Speedie —they called him ‘weirdo’ and it was only partly in jest.
Nevin is a small, slight man with glasses. So how did he cope?
‘I guess it came from strength of personality from my parents and education,’ he told Sportsmail this week. ‘And I was from Glasgow’s East End, tougher than I looked.
‘People took the mick and I was like, “Really? Is that the best you can do?” When you don’t back down it blindsides them. Then there is a bit of respect for this wee bloke in the corner. Maybe I should have gone to the bad nightclubs with them at least once.
‘Yeah, maybe I was a weirdo. Actually I went once and I was introduced to Elton John. One of the players made an horrendous comment to him, homophobic. It crushed him. So I gave the lad a piece of my mind. He backed off.
‘One night a nice girl tried to chat me up and the lads were egging me on. But I had a girlfriend — she is my wife now — so I said I wasn’t interested and the lads asked me if I was gay.
‘Sometimes I revelled in the difference, but there were things I didn’t let on about. On a Thursday morning at training, would I tell them I had spent the night before at the royal ballet at Covent Garden? No, of course not.’
Nevin was successful at Chelsea. He played almost 200 league games, was Player of the Year twice and popularity came with it. He was indulged by manager John Neal, too. Nevin once left a pre-season game at half-time to go to a Cocteau Twins gig and would wear headphones while Neal gave his team talk.
‘It was my first Walkman and only I had one,’ he said. ‘But John was great. Once we had scored three, he let me do whatever I liked with the ball. Party time. And I think he knew about the dribble I used to do for my dad.’
In 1984, after scoring in a Friday win at Manchester City, Nevin skipped the team bus home to go to the town’s famous Hacienda nightclub, sleeping on the platform at Piccadilly Station before travelling south.
Once, with Chelsea leading the same opposition 4-0, he took one of the worst penalties of all time, off a half-yard run-up. So many people ask him about it, he got the clip uploaded You Tube.
He may have got a harder time had he not been so valuable a player.
