Former Player Remembers: Emile Heskey

After making 197 appearances for Leicester City between 1995 and 2000, Emile was sold for £11,000,000 to Liverpool, where he made a further 223 appearances. 

His total of 516 Premier League appearances place him sixth in the Premier League appearances list. He represented England at U-16, U-18, U-21, and at England ‘B’ level and won 62 full international caps, playing in two World Cup Final tournaments. 

Emile’s path to football fame began as a young nine year-old in Leicester. 

“The system then was similar to the one that exists now. A group of us were scouted around the school system. We were asked to come to the training ground every Tuesday. There would be about thirty or forty of us. Over the years that would be whittled down to about 20 and you took it from there. It was always nice to be in that environment with your local team, getting a good quality of training. I was lucky enough to be trained by Neville Hamilton who has unfortunately passed away. He was great for me at that time. He taught me different skills and tricks that would stand me in good stead later in my career, not just me but the other lads too.” 

Emile’s progress was such that he was awarded a two year placement on the Club’s YTS (Youth Training Scheme). He was also selected for the England Under-16 side. 

“When I was playing for the Leicester City ‘A’ team I was chosen for a trial down at Lilleshall which was the Centre for Excellence. The likes of Michael Owen, Sol Campbell, Carlton Cole and Nicky Barmby all came through that system. I was asked to go and train there and luckily enough got through and I went to the European Championships with the England U-16 side.” 

Emile was still on the first year of the Youth Training Scheme when he made his Leicester City debut in a Premier League game against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road in March 1995. 

“I travelled with the first team, basically to help out and to get a little feel of what it was like. Mark McGhee was the manager at the time. He was really good for me. He would take me to one side and help me with certain things. As a forward himself, he would coach me individually and help me, which was great. 

“For the QPR game, there was a sickness going through more or less the whole team so we were struggling for players and that’s when I got my opportunity. I didn’t even know I was in contention. I was basically making the tea and helping with the kit and then I saw my name on the board! It wasn’t the best of debuts but it was a start of going on to better things.” 

Leicester City were relegated at the end of that season but had high hopes of a quick return to the Premier League under Mark McGhee, but he left to manage Wolverhampton Wanderers in December 1995 and was replaced by Martin O’Neill. 

“During that 1995/96 pre- season I played a couple of first team games but I injured my knee in a friendly against Notts County. That set me back a little bit, but once I came back from my knee injury everything was fine. 

“When Martin arrived, he had obviously done his homework on the team and on the squad. He had seen me play a couple of games in the youth team and he had me training with the first team on a regular basis. I owe a lot to him. At the end of the day, you need to have faith shown in you by someone and he is the one who showed the faith that I could play regular first team football. 

“When Martin first arrived results did not go too well, but you have pressures in football, especially in the English system. You need to learn to deal with pressure and learn that when you win a game, that’s great but when you lose a game it can be bad. In football I always managed to take things in my stride. It wasn’t a major thing for me to be in the first team. It was just another level for me to step up to. I never really over-thought things. That was a good thing. When you overthink things that’s when you make mistakes. I was able to just go out there and do what I knew I could do best which was running with the ball. Martin O’Neill didn’t want me to do anything else, so that was even better. I didn’t really have to think too much. 

“Steve Claridge was absolutely fantastic for me. He was a great player and a great individual. There is nothing worse than having a senior player who doesn’t really want you to prosper as a kid. I have seen this happen but with Stevie Claridge and Tony Cottee, they would help you with every aspect of your game and talk you through a lot of things. That’s one thing you need as young lad coming through. You need the senior players to help you because they have been through it. 

“The 1996 Play-Off against Crystal Palace was a fairy tale. If you look at the team that Martin O’Neill built and what it achieved it was phenomenal. We had a Play-Off and three League Cup Finals, which meant four Wembley appearances in five years. We also had four top-ten Premier League finishes. We had belief in ourselves and we had some really good players like Stevie Walsh who were good leaders. Stevie Claridge could pop up with a crucial goal as he did in the Play-off Final and the League Cup Final. Martin managed to add certain players to the squad which developed it as well.” 

At the end of the 1996/97 season, Emile was runner-up to David Beckham as the PFA Young Player of the Year. 

“It was a phenomenal season, not just for me, but for the whole Club. It was our first season back in the Premier League and we were favourites at the start of the season to go down. But we held our own and made Filbert Street a fortress. No one liked going to Filbert Street. Players still tell me that now. They hated going to Filbert Street. It wasn’t an intimidating place but we made it a fortress.” 

That season, Emile’s crucial late goal in the 1997 League Cup Final earned the Foxes a replay at Hillsborough where they won the League Cup thereby qualifying them for European Competition. 

“That goal kept us in the game. We rode our luck but that’s what happens every now and again. It was a great achievement to score a goal in a League Cup Final. 

“Playing in Europe was fantastic. European football is a kind of pinnacle. We came up short over the two legs against Atletico Madrid but it stood us in good stead to go on that season and the next. We knew that we were on the right track. “ 

In April 1999, Emile won the first of his 62 England caps, coming on as substitute against Hungary in Budapest. He also played in the same England side as Leicester teammate Steve Guppy against Belgium in October 1999. 

“Winning my first cap was great. I had been in the squad a couple of times before but it’s one thing being in and around the squad and another eventually getting on the pitch. That’s another level. Frank Lampard also made his England debut in that game. To be playing for your country in the full national team is another pinnacle. It’s what every kid wants to do. They want to be playing for their national team, especially in a major tournament. Every kid wants to play in the World Cup. I was the same. I was lucky enough to play in two World Cups and I managed to score in one of them. 

“TC (Tony Cottee) helped me a lot at Leicester because he was a goalscorer. Throughout my career I have been a provider. I put myself about. I love creating space and creating goals and TC was a phenomenal goalscorer and had been throughout the whole of his career. Even though he was at the age of about 34 or 35 he still knew how to find the back of the net and that was great for us.” 

Emile’s last game for Leicester City before his £11 million transfer to Liverpool in March 2000 was the 5-2 defeat of Sunderland when he scored his last goal for Leicester City whilst partnering Stan Collymore who scored a hat trick on his home debut in this game. 

“It was a memorable game. I knew that going to Liverpool was on the cards but I didn’t know when it was going to happen. Stan was a phenomenal player. When I was 16 I was told to watch him by Mark McGhee. Stan was a similar sort of build as me and had a similar sort of style. He could run past players with the ball so it was great to play alongside him. 

“When I left Leicester, we had stability and momentum. We had been in the top ten for four seasons so we knew what it took. We just needed to tweak it a little bit. We had a squad that could compete in the top six, definitely in the top ten. 

“Liverpool is one of the biggest clubs in the world. My uncle was a Liverpool fan. I grew up around him and loved Liverpool myself so it was a great honour to go there. You don’t realise the magnitude of the Club until you actually go there and be around everything. 

“To play for Liverpool at that time was wonderful. I wasn’t playing as a lone striker. I was playing as the main striker. Michael (Owen) was injured a fair bit as well. When Michael was fit, he would play the main striker and I would be up with him but drop back in. It was a structure that we had and it worked so well. We were very successful."

At Liverpool, Emile was in the team which won the FA Cup, the League Cup and UEFA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup in 2001. He also won League Cup again in 2003. 

“We had a great manager at Liverpool. The best mangers were I worked with were Martin O’Neill and Gerard Houllier. Martin gave me my opportunity to play regular first team football and enjoy it, allowing me to play the way I liked, with no restrictions. At Liverpool, Gerard Houllier taught me about the game, about when and how to make runs and about knowing about the opposition. 

“Whilst at Liverpool, Leicester City went in to administration. Emile generously helped out with a substantial financial contribution to the Consortium which brought the Club. 

“I never expected a Club like Leicester to go into Administration. Leicester City had been so sturdy over the years and hadn’t gone financially crazy. It is a club whose fans turn out in droves. They even got up to 30,000 fans in League One! It was also a Club that had helped to get me from a kid of nine years old to get where I got to. I felt that it was a massive shame. I felt it was my duty to get involved.” 

Emile went on to play Premier League football for Birmingham City, Aston Villa and Wigan Athletic as well as having spells at Newcastle Jets in Australia’s A-League and with Bolton Wanderers.