Playing For England & Coaching With Pearson - Powell’s Podcast Highlights

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Playing For England & Coaching With Pearson - Powell’s Podcast Highlights

Chris Powell is our latest guest to star on the Leicester’s The Place Podcast, sharing a host of stories from his time in the game.

2025-10-11T09:00+01:00

by Sam Jones

Published

11 Oct, 2025

Playing For England & Coaching With Pearson - Powell’s Podcast Highlights

Chris Powell is our latest guest to star on the Leicester’s The Place Podcast, sharing a host of stories from his time in the game.

Sam Jones

2025-10-11T09:00+01:00

Playing For England & Coaching With Pearson - Powell’s Podcast Highlights

Chris Powell is our latest guest to star on the Leicester’s The Place Podcast, sharing a host of stories from his time in the game.

Sam Jones

2025-10-11T09:00+01:00

Playing For England & Coaching With Pearson - Powell’s Podcast Highlights

Chris Powell is our latest guest to star on the Leicester’s The Place Podcast, sharing a host of stories from his time in the game.

Sam Jones

2025-10-11T09:00+01:00

Playing For England & Coaching With Pearson - Powell’s Podcast Highlights

Chris Powell is our latest guest to star on the Leicester’s The Place Podcast, sharing a host of stories from his time in the game.

Sam Jones

2025-10-11T09:00+01:00

The former Foxes full-back played 26 times in Leicester blue, at the end of a career which also saw him represent the likes of Crystal Palace, Derby County, Charlton Athletic and West Ham United, among others.

Joining ex-City captain Matt Elliott and Foxes Hub presenter Dan Bates on the sofa, the former England international had an array of interesting and varied stories, with the full episode now available to watch.

‘We’re singing Bohemian Rhapsody’

The pair later worked together again at Derby County.

Powell joined Leicester soon after Nigel Pearson took the reins at King Power Stadium at the start of the 08/09 season and, following winning the League 1 title in his first season, made the transition into coaching.

“I think with Nige, he understands players,” the 56-year-old explained. “He’s really well versed and a really intelligent guy. I said to him I was going to retire and move on and he said: ‘No, you’ll stay here. I saw you with the young players and I want you to stay next season’.

Powell initially joined the Foxes in August 2008.

“Then I realised at home, he was saying that this is the start of my next journey in my career. At the end of the season, we were playing Crewe away and I wasn’t playing. He said to come with the staff. We would have a meal booked in a restaurant.

“Then he said we were going to sing Bohemian Rhapsody. He said he was going to start it off and then you just join in when you want. Can you imagine? I’ve been a player and we’re singing Bohemian Rhapsody in the hotel. I’m thinking, do I join in?

“We sung it and it was just the camaraderie of the staff. That’s just a little insight of how he got people together.”

‘An amazing show’

The cast of Ted Lasso.

Initially coming on board to assist with the coaching side of the hit TV show Ted Lasso, Powell was soon invited to appear on screen as a co-commentator, alongside Arlo White. Involved in all three seasons, it was an unexpected opportunity.

“It came out of nothing,” he revealed. “I got a phone call from an agent who had a script for a TV show about an American managing a Premier League team. I said that’s not going to work, no chance!

“They needed someone with a little bit of experience to help the directors with the coaching and what it looked like behind the scenes. I went down to where it was filmed at Hayes and Yeading Football Club in west London, watched the guys and took the actors for a coaching session.

“Across the road is the Warner Bros studio. I was living down south at the time and would show them what a possession session would look like or crossing and finishing or a small-sided game. I was behind the camera, not getting involved too much.

Speaking to Matt Elliott in Seagrave.

“I did a Sky game and someone from the production team saw it and next time I came in, they said they’d seen me talking about the game. They’d got a role with a commentator and did I want to do it? I said I’m not an actor, but I’ll do it!

“From there, they put us in front of the camera. I’m sat next to Arlo as the co-comm and we would film a lot with no players there and a lot of extras in the stand. Arlo is brilliant, he’s top class.

“We dovetailed and he got most of the lines, but I got a few. Sometimes they’d say to ad-lib and they’d keep it in. I’d only get the scripts for my lines and in season one we had to learn them.

“When you mess up, you think you’re letting everyone down but in season two and three we had auto cues behind the cameras. If you didn’t remember, you could just look.

“There were 10 episodes a season and we were in four or five. It got really popular and became one of Apple TVs most popular shows. It’s an amazing show.”

‘I nutmegged Guardiola’

A special debut for the defender.

Powell earned five caps for England between 2001 and 2002 and a particularly memorable debut in the Midlands is remembered for an iconic moment while up against Spain’s Pep Guardiola, as Sven-Göran Eriksson’s reign got off to the perfect start.

“Against Spain, I played the first half but came off at half-time because I had a slight calf injury," he told us. "It was at Villa Park then, going around the country because Wembley was being [renovated], so I never played at Wembley.

“We won 3-0 and I nutmegged [Pep] Guardiola. There’s a famous picture and a friend of mine actually gave it to me for my 50th. I didn’t mean it, but I said to everyone that I did!

“He’s looking back and his feet are apart and I’m running on, so it went through his legs and I ran around him and crossed it in.”

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