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5th October 2023
04:33pm BST
His comments drew some applause from those at the event before the former Newcastle and England star then said he was fully supportive of the development of women’s football.
“The presenters we have now, some of the girls are so good, they are better than the guys. It’s a great time for the ladies,” he continued.
“It is a great time for the ladies’ game. When I was England manager [from February 1999 to October 2000], I went to coach the England ladies and I had this perception of what the quality would be like and they were so much better than I thought they were going to be.
“I joined in and then I thought, ‘I’m getting out of this’. I couldn’t get the bloody ball and one of them nutmegged me, that finished me off.”
During the evening, the once-famed footballer admitted that he doesn’t watch the sport that forged him such a successful career as much as he used to.
“There’s a lot of football on TV now, I’m very selective,” he said. “I used to watch almost every match but now it’s just if it’s [his former clubs] Newcastle or Liverpool, or Southampton to a lesser degree.
“I even find with Man City they are good but they can be quite boring to watch because of the pass, pass. I don’t think there is anything wrong with knocking a ball into the box. It’s not as exciting as it was.”
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