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Chris Waddle recalls a mad time in Marseille, music... and the mafia
Thirty years ago this summer, Chris Waddle became Britain's most expensive footballer when he joined Olympique Marseille from Tottenham Hotspur for £4.5million.
On a grey August night in his native North East, Waddle met up with Sportsmail for a beer to reflect on three colourful years on the Cote d'Azur…
Chris Waddle met up with Sportsmail for a beer to reflect on three colourful years in Marseille
Waddle won three successive Ligue 1 titles and was a European Cup runner-up during his stay
The Vauxhall SRi Turbo was touching 100mph on the deserted toll road out of Aix-en-Provence when flashing blue lights illuminated its rear-view mirror.
'I was late for training,' recalls Waddle. 'The police officer started on with the usual, "You know what speed you go?". Then he stopped himself and looked at me, "Waddle?!"
'He ripped off the bottom of the speeding ticket and asked me to sign it. "Souvenir", he said. "No fine".'
Before leaving, the officer asked Waddle why he was speeding. He explained that training began in 15 minutes. 'So then he said, "Follow me", put on the blue lights and gave me an escort!'
WADDLE ON... ERIC CANTONA
'I liked Eric. He was a lunatic, but he was dry. We were having a team dinner and Jean-Pierre Papin liked a joke. Eric never liked Papin. Papin put his fork in this sachet of vinegar, thinking it would hit me when he squirted it. Except, it machine-gunned Eric — his forehead, mouth, chin, chest. I couldn't stop laughing. Everyone else was silent. They thought, "Eric finally has his chance to kill Papin". He got his napkin, dead slow, and dabbed all the vinegar. He looked at me and said, "You want to grow up". Then to Papin, "You are a little boy. I'm going to bed".'
In a city of mafia rule, Waddle discovered you did not need underworld connections if you were the darling of the Stade Velodrome.
'If I took parking tickets down the bureau, the fella would just tear off the signature part and keep it. I must have had 80 of them and never paid for one.'
It was all very different from life in London, where he had starred for Spurs and England but enjoyed relative anonymity.
'All of a sudden I was being chased around shopping malls by screaming schoolgirls,' says Waddle, now 58. 'You're running out of fire exits and jumping into cars. I'm thinking, "What's this all about?"
It was a French love affair with an Englishman they nicknamed 'Magic Chris', a stylish winger with effortless genius who won three successive Ligue 1 titles and was a European Cup runner-up in 1991.
He even entered the charts thanks to a rap duet with team-mate Basile Boli, though it did not the scale the heights of Diamond Lights, the single he released with Glenn Hoddle which made the UK top 20 in 1987.
Marseille nicknamed him 'Magic Chris' because he was a stylish winger with effortless genius
He recalls how local police were more than willing to write off a number of motoring offences
WADDLE ON... BASILE BOLI
'He said, "Will you do a song with me? It's an African-European rap". I said "That sounds awful, I'm a serious singer, you never heard of Diamond Lights?" Anyway, I agreed. We recorded the video and they dressed me as John Steed from The Avengers, wearing a bowler hat and a brolly and dancing! The video came on TV one night, oh my God! It got to No 1 in Albania! I said to him before Euro '92, "Stuart Pearce is harder than you". So what does he do? Headbutts Pearcey when France played England!'
Later, Marseille's supporters would name Waddle the club's second-best player of the 20th century. He smiles when reminded of that. The winner was Jean-Pierre Papin, the prolific French striker who was Waddle's landlord on arrival in the south of France. He smiles at that, too.
'Papin was having a few problems with his wife,' he says. 'I'd be lying in my room and you'd hear voices getting louder. I didn't understand a word but I'm thinking, "That's not a conversation". You'd be in the kitchen at breakfast and then it would start again, and I'm like, "Where's the ejector seat? Get me out of here!"
Sitting now in a quiet corner of The Crown pub in Gateshead, just around the corner from his in-laws and where the locals affectionately greet this famous yet familiar face, it feels a long way from chez Papin and that summer of 1989.
Waddle takes us back: 'I was happy at Spurs but they told me, "Marseille have come in. We put a silly price on your head, but they want to pay". I said, "Why didn't you tell them £10m then?". Next thing, I'm off.'
Waddle became the third most expensive player in the world — only Diego Maradona and Ruud Gullit had cost more. Leaving his wife and one-year-old daughter in London while he acclimatised, he landed in Marseille. 'A journalist at the airport asks me, "Are you looking forward to playing in the Stade Velodrome?"... "Of course".
'He then said, "What song will you start with tonight?". I'm thinking, "Eh, what's he on about? Has Diamond Lights come out in France?".
'He says, "You are the lead singer from Pink Floyd?". They were playing at the stadium that night! I'm thinking, "Hold on, I wonder if Maradona and Gullit had this?"
But Waddle did not hit the right notes during those early months.
'I was way off the pace,' he says. 'I'd done no pre-season. My first day was running in 95-degree heat. At the end I'm lying there, my face bright red. The lads nicknamed me Roast Beef!'
Waddle and Sportsmail's Craig Hope met in Gateshead, just around the corner from his in-laws
Marseille's supporters would name Waddle the club's second-best player of the 20th century
Papin, though, did have a softer side, at least once his wife had left the kitchen. 'I'd ask him, "What does this say in the paper?". He'd say, "Waddle… did well today, getting better". I'd then look at the marks and it was 4 out of 10. "How can they say I'm doing well?" He'd say, "Ah, must be a misprint".
'Basically it said I was c**p and he was trying to protect me. I liked Papin. Some player.'
Waddle was certainly afforded no protection from the press. 'It was all, "Waddle, what a waste of money". I said, "Listen, give me three months to get fit then write what you want". I got about three hours!'
Then, one night in October, everything changed. His goal against PSG in a 2-1 home win remains the most iconic of his career. There are T-shirts, prints and murals depicting the audacity of it.
'I was sick of my life by now,' he begins, a surprising answer given the question, 'Can you tell us about that wonderful night?'
But Waddle wants to provide some context. 'They didn't know where to play me. They bought me as a No 10, but that wasn't me. They called me in, "Chris, we've paid a lot of money for you…". I'm thinking, "Here we go, they're sending me back to Spurs". But they wanted to know why I was having a bad time.'
Waddle grabs a notepad and sketches a football pitch. 'It was like a scene from 'Allo, 'Allo! I was saying to the coach, "You play me 'ere, I want to play 'ere". I was drawing circles everywhere to explain — it must have worked.'
Sportsmail’s Craig Hope (far left, aged two) with Chris Waddle (far right) in 1985 at the opening of a carpet store in Westerhope, Newcastle
Waddle struggled for fitness initially but quickly impressed French fans when he hit his stride
Waddle explains how he had lunch with a mafia boss but refused to be sucked into controversy
His recreation shows a front three with Abedi Pele on the left, Papin in the centre and himself on the right, but with licence to roam infield. 'That week we'd finally moved into our house in Aix. I said to my wife, "This is it now, if it doesn't work by Christmas we'll probably get booted out anyway".'
The goal. 'It was 0-0 and our left back lifted the ball into the area. It was just me and the 'keeper, Joel Bats. He's running out towards me but I've flicked it over him. I've thought, "Ah, I'm probably offside, I'll just stick it in with a backheel". I've looked round. No flag. I was over the advertising boards. From there, it all took off.'
WADDLE ON... CARLOS MOZER
'A Brazil defender signed at same time as me. We drove to training together. We had no common language. I'm thinking, "This will be a long three miles". All of a sudden he says, "Kevin Keegan". I think for a second and say, "Pele". He goes, "Gary Lineker". I go, "Jairzinho". This goes on all the way to training. We get back in the car after and it starts again. "Bryan Robson". So I say, "Rivellino". "Glenn Hoddle". "Tostao". We did this for three days! He's got a restaurant in Lisbon now. I saw him a few years ago. I just said, "Jairzinho", and we couldn't stop laughing.'
Come May 1990, Marseille were champions and Waddle, scorer of 12 goals, could park the Vauxhall anywhere he wanted. He was a favourite of club president Bernard Tapie, the madcap politician, and everyone wanted a piece of him.
'I got invited to lunch in the port. This old guy sits down next to me. I'm looking at my team-mates, "Who the f*** is this?" I then noticed the gun inside his jacket.
'One of the lads went to the toilet so I ran after him, "Who's that?" "One of the mafia bosses, he just wants to meet you". I shook his hand and was polite — but I wasn't going down the Maradona road!'
That summer, at Italia '90, Waddle and Maradona could have met in the final, had the former not blazed his penalty over the bar in England's shootout defeat to eventual champions West Germany in the semi-final.
Waddle was back in Italy the following March for a European Cup quarter-final against holders AC Milan. They drew 1-1 in the San Siro and it was goalless with 15 minutes left in the second leg when Pele crossed from the right and Papin flicked on to Waddle.
Waddle played against Red Star Belgrade in the 1991 European Cup final that Marseille lost
After missing a penalty at Italia '90, Waddle insisted he wasn't prepared to take one in Bari
'I would probably never try that shot again, a right-foot volley,' he says. 'As soon as it leaves your foot it's a bit of a snail, bobbling. Then you're thinking, "Tell you what, it's got a chance this… it's in!"'
Then, infamously, some of the floodlights went out and Milan walked off. The referee said Marseille were winners and Uefa agreed, later banning Milan for one season. Not that Waddle remembers much of the closing stages.
'If you watch it back, I'm playing with smelling salts in my hand. (Paolo) Maldini had crashed his elbow into my head. You'd never be allowed to play on today.
'Anyway, Gazza was my guest that night. We were having a beer after and my head started spinning. Next thing, I'm sick and my legs have gone. I'm on a stretcher and being lifted into an ambulance! Gazza's like, "Where you going?" I said, "Where do you think I'm going?" I had a week in hospital.'
Waddle was back to face Red Star Belgrade in the final in Bari. After a dour stalemate, it went to penalties. 'No way was I taking one, I went and sat in the dugout,' he says. 'Because of Italia 90? Absolutely. I won't even take one on a Sunday morning now.' Red Star won the shootout 5-3.
Waddle was delighted to hear that both Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry were huge fans
'We were the best team in Europe, we'd beaten Milan. Red Star ruined the final, we just couldn't score.'
Waddle was in the running for the Ballon d'Or but lost out to Papin. His final season brought another title and a special moment at PSG when the home fans stood to applaud him. 'That had never happened,' he says. 'Everywhere I went, it was like a home game for me.'
For all that, Graham Taylor left him out of England's Euro 92 squad. 'Michel Platini was France manager and he'd watch us train. He'd say to me, "If you were French, you'd play". I said, "Any chance of you getting the England job?" To this day, that Gallic appreciation remains.
'I met Zinedine Zidane at a charity match. He was a Marseille fan. He was more starstruck than me!
'He said, "You were a top, top player". I was like, "Hold on, does that make you a top, top, top player?" It was the same with Thierry Henry. He said, "I used to come from Paris with my dad just to watch you. You could beat a player without moving the ball".
'It makes you think, "I must have done something right".'
