In My Sporting Hero, a new podcast series from Nutmeg, footballers talk about the athletes who inspire them. Sometimes those sportsmen and women are also footballers. Sometimes not. You can listen to the audio on this post, on the podcast app of your choice (just search for ‘My Sporting Hero’) or enjoy the written version below.
Our next guest is John Hartson.
John is best known in Scotland for his five-year stint at Celtic, after being signed by Martin O’Neill in 2001. The powerful centre-forward went on to score 105 goals in 197 appearances for the Parkhead club, and won three league titles, two Scottish Cups and a League Cup. John was three-times Welsh player of the year, and was capped 51 times by his country.
Having survived testicular cancer, he set up the John Hartson Foundation to raise charity funds. John has enjoyed an esteemed media career since hanging up his boots.
John’s sporting hero is fellow Welshman Ian Rush, who in two spells at Anfield became Liverpool’s all-time record goalscorer.
When I first started getting into football and following the national team, I picked out their number nine, because I was a goalscorer, too. His name was Ian Rush and he scored 339 goals for Liverpool, and is an absolutely iconic figure in Welsh football. He was the top Welsh goalscorer until Gareth Bale broke the record recently. At Liverpool, he played alongside great players like Kenny Dalglish, Mark Lawrenson and Alan Hansen, but it was mainly because of Ian Rush that I quickly became a Liverpool fan. It is incredible to think that eventually I would train and play with the idol whose picture I used to have on my wall.
I looked up to him, so when I was around him with the Welsh squad, I must have driven him mad with question after question. I just wanted to know everything about him. Since our playing days, we have hosted sportsman’s dinners together and become good mates. Therefore, my love for Rushie isn’t of the fanboy variety any more, although he will always be my hero.
I was brought up in a working-class council estate in Swansea and I shared a bedroom with my brother James, who is now a criminal barrister. My mum and dad were very hardworking, and I would be told to make myself scarce so that James could study, so I would just take my football and kick it around the estate. I was always dreaming that maybe one day I could become a professional footballer, and then maybe one day, if I was good enough, I might even play for Wales. That’s all I wanted and I was just obsessed with football. I wanted to get away from the council estate. Don’t get me wrong, it was a brilliant environment with great people and I had a wonderful upbringing with great parents, but I wanted to achieve something in my life.
When I got a chance to go to Luton at the age of 16, that was my big opportunity to achieve something. And then my career just blossomed, and soon I was playing in big European nights at Arsenal, alongside the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Ian Wright and Paul Merson. And I broke into the Wales senior team at a young age – just like Ian Rush had, making my debut at the age of 19 in Bulgaria. Now I was in the squad with Wales legends such as Mark Hughes, Neville Southall, Dean Saunders, Kevin Ratcliffe, and, of course, Ian Rush. All of a sudden I was eating alongside him at the dinner table and trying not to stare at him, but eventually you become friends because you are teammates and you are training together every day. On the training ground, he would teach me things and I would watch him and try and learn from him. However, we were very different players; Rush was quicker than me and he scored more goals than me, whereas I was often a provider and not the main goalscorer. I came on to play alongside him in a game against Turkey in Cardiff, which was a great moment for me and a dream come true. If there hadn’t been so many top Welsh forwards at the time I was breaking through, I would probably have won 70 or 80 caps, but I had to pretty much wait for them to retire.
One of my greatest moments as a Celtic player was the night we went to Anfield and I scored and we knocked Liverpool out of the quarter-final of the UEFA Cup. Nobody really fancied us, although we had a really good side. As a Liverpool supporter, it was a peculiar situation, but as a professional, I simply had a job to do. Anfield is a real fortress and I had never won there before. Rush and Dalglish and other Liverpool greats must have been in the crowd watching that night. It was a very special moment for me, because when I was a kid, I used to impersonate Ian Rush celebrating scoring a goal at Anfield. Also, I had missed a penalty against Rangers on the previous Sunday in the League Cup final at Hampden, so I wasn’t feeling too great about myself and to score at Anfield was marvellous.
My goals per game record is fine, but Ian Rush was arguably one of the best strikers of all time. He was just a goalscoring phenomenon. And to do that, he had to maintain his desire throughout his career, as well as keep himself in peak physical shape. It helps when you have got guys like Dalglish alongside you, and I was fortunate to have guys like Henrik Larsson and Alan Thompson as teammates. Rushie moved to Juventus but I don’t think he hit the same heights there and when he had his second spell at Liverpool, perhaps he wasn’t quite the same player compared to when he was young and incredibly fast, although he still won trophies. I’m surprised he didn’t go into management because he would have had a great knowledge of the game. I think he’s an ambassador for Welsh football, which is a title he thoroughly deserves.
My career has just been a dream. I feel so blessed, having grown up on a council estate in Swansea and then playing for Arsenal, West Ham, Celtic and Wales. As with my cancer battle, I got a lot of luck, and I believe in luck, I believe in fate. When I failed my medical at Rangers, it was almost fated that I would sign for Celtic. I lost my sister Hayley suddenly a few years ago, and my parents and the whole family are still struggling to come to terms with it. I think life is a challenge. Things happen to test you and I’ve always had to come through those tests. I had a gambling addiction, but I’m now 13 years without a bet and I chair regular meetings which helps continue my recovery. I’ve got a wonderful family and a house in Edinburgh and I’m in a really good place at the minute. I would like to do a bit more media work but I’ve got some projects going on and I’ve got great friends and I play a lot of golf. Things have worked out pretty well for me.
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