Aussie football fans are blowing Premier League legend’s mind

Exclusive: Ledley King is a bona-fide Tottenham Hotspur legend.

The centre back is a rarity in the modern Premier League as a one club man who played 323 competitive games for Spurs between 1999-2012.

Now 45, King played 21 times for England and would have had many more caps if not for a chronic knee injury that forced him to retire prematurely at the age of 31.

He has a 7.6m mural in his honour near Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and his remarkable recovery tackle on Chelsea’s Arjen Robben in 2006 remains the stuff of Premier League legend.

As does his goal just 9.82 seconds into a 2000 game against Bradford City, which at the time was the quickest in Premier League history. It now ranks third.

After beating Sydney FC on penalties on Wednesday, Tottenham will take on London rivals Chelsea in front of an expected crowd of 80,000 at Accor Stadium on Saturday.

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Now a beloved Spurs ambassador, King sat down with nine.com.au at Sydney’s ‘Spurs House’ pop-up on Thursday, where he was the centre of attention for adoring fans.

Nine.com.au: Ledley, a bit of drama Wednesday night with a shootout and good fun for the fans. But what did you make of that performance from Spurs?

King: Yeah, it was a tough game. I thought Sydney played well, stuck to their principles, and they tried to play the right way.

It was a good test for us, especially our younger players. I thought there was some really good individual performances.

I thought Andy Robertson came on and did really well. Lucá Williams-Barnett looked really lively. Preseason is about getting your fitness levels up, getting in tune with what the manager wants, and it was a good test.

Nine.com.au: Chelsea this weekend. What are your strongest memories of that derby game, what immediately comes to mind?

King: Difficult game, always. A little bit of spice to it which is fantastic. I think my greatest moment against Chelsea was very early in my career.

We played them in the semi-final of the League Cup and beat them 5-1 (in 2002). My next best memory was beating them 2-1 (in 2006) and my good (centre back) partner Michael Dawson scored the first goal.

So yeah, some good ones. Beating them in the (2008 League) Cup final. But we had a few losses along the way.

Nine.com.au: What can Spurs fans expect under Roberto De Zerbi this season? Last year when he came in it was obviously one job: to survive. He now gets to lay out the map for the whole season...

King: First and foremost, we have a top class manager, done a fantastic job for us at the end of the season.

After the season was done we breathed a quick sigh of relief, but then we realised we have to go to business straight away. We’ve done that in the transfer window.

We’ve brought in six quality, Premier League proven players to add to the squad (Sandro Tonali, Andy Robertson, Mateus Fernandes, Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi and Martin Dubravka).

I think the fans are optimistic now of what we can do. We are really looking forward to the season.

Nine.com.au: Which of those new signings are you most excited about?

King: It’s difficult to say. As I mentioned, they’ve all played in the Premier League, which is key.

I thought Andy Robertson’s signing was one of intent, the kind of character, the kind of leadership that we want throughout the team as well. But Tonali and Fernandes are two huge players at the peak of their career - or in Fernandes’ case, he’s got the peak to come. So that really is great for the football club.

Nine.com.au: Yeah, good signs from Robertson on the park last night. He decided not to take your shirt number (26) and is wearing No.3 instead. What does that say about the man?

King: Yeah it shows what kind of man he is. I know he had 26 at Liverpool, and it was a nice touch with him to show that respect to me. It’s appreciated. We spoke before the trip about it.

It’s just one former captain, former leader, former No.26, that appreciation for each other. And yeah, we had a word.

Nine.com.au: You just had an Aussie come up to you, take off his shirt, and he’s got you tattooed all over his back. It’s insane what football can do, isn’t it?

King: It is, it’s amazing. That was the best bit of artwork I’ve seen! But that’s why it’s so important for us to come out to places like Sydney and engage with our fans. Because our fans here are just as important as the ones back home.

This is the only time of the year that we get a chance to really come out and show our appreciation.

Nine.com.au: It is pretty rare to be a one club man these days. Experiences like this today, do you look back and go ‘yeah, I’m really happy that I did do that?’

King: Yeah, I think so. It was just the feel that I had, you know. I was at the club from a very young age.

I had a great relationship with the fans, and I just wanted to take my team to try and win things with my team. I guess I’m reaping the rewards now in terms of being retired but still so closely associated with the football club and now as ambassador, getting a chance to travel the world is something I really love doing.

Nine.com.au: What did you make of Ange’s (Postecoglou) time with the club? How did you find him?

King: Ange done really well. He won a trophy (Europa League) for the football club the first time in 17 years. Ange is going to go down in history at the football club.

It’s always difficult being a manager, injuries, and we know that time waits for no man, so to speak.

The club felt that it was right to move on from Ange, but he’s always going to be appreciated with the Spurs fans and the football club for what he did for us.

Nine.com.au: Is it the type of club that he’ll always be welcomed back at with open arms?

King: I’d have thought so. He’s going to be in the club’s history. Football never stands still, you know, it moves on very quickly, whether you’re a player or a manager. It keeps moving forward, but the fans will never forget, and the club will never forget what Ange did.

Nine.com.au: You were famous for playing through a really tough knee condition, like literally not being able to train towards the end of your career. How did you actually do that? It’s a lot of mental strength (Harry Redknapp called him a ‘freak’).

King: Yeah, five years. I don’t know. It was tough, it was difficult. It’s one of them things that you look back on now and say ‘how did I do that?’

But when you’re in it, you just do what you can. I did have to be very mentally strong, knowing that I was playing at 60 per cent, compared to everyone else on the pitch. But yeah, somehow I managed to do it.

I’m just grateful that I was able to still perform and give something back to the team.

Nine.com.au: Have you seen anyone else do that?

King: I mean there was a player before myself called Paul McGrath. And he done that as well, but yeah, it’s very rare, and I don’t recommend it!

Nine.com.au: Last one, the best striker that you played against in the Premier League?

King: Thierry Henry for me. Unfortunately, he played for our biggest rivals (Arsenal), but yeah, I always enjoyed the battles. For me, he was the best.

Nine.com.au: He was very complimentary towards you, being able to get the ball off him without fouling (Henry: “He will get the ball off you without you even noticing”).

King: Yeah, which was nice. Because he’s regarded as, you know, one of the best ever in Premier League history, so for him to say that it was a nice touch.

Spurs kick off their Premier League campaign against Brentford on August 23 (AEST).

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