‘When you’re sat in row Z, and the ball hits your head, that’s Zamora, that’s Zamora.’
Sung to the tune of Dean Martin’s ‘That’s Amoré’, Fulham fans really knew how to show their appreciation for striker Bobby Zamora.
BORN: 24 November 1955, Oldfield, England
PLAYER: Somerset, Queensland, Worcestershire, Durham and England
1) Despite having an offer to play football for Crystal Palace, Botham had his sights set on a career with his beloved Somerset and made his début in 1974. He famously took an Andy Roberts bouncer in his mouth, spat out some teeth and carried on his maverick batting.
2) His Somerset years alongside West Indian pals Viv Richards and Joel Garner harvested five trophies, while he also found time to play football for Yeovil Town and Scunthorpe United. As for England, he demolished bowlers and batsmen alike from 1977 to 1992.
3) Botham has been a long-standing charity fundraiser. He rafted down the Rhône and crossed the Alps with a troop of elephants in his widely publicised 1988 Hannibal Walk. He also allegedly unfurled a trunk of his very own in a controversial Twitter image during 2014.
4) ‘Beefy’ and Aussie Ian Chappell have an infamous feud dating back 36 years. The pair once nearly came to blows in a car park after Chappell muttered an obscenity to his English nemesis. Botham apparently said, ‘Just ******* wait till I get him on my own in a lift.’
DID YOU KNOW: In 1985 a Hollywood director touted Botham as the next James Bond. They asked him to live in California for six months and hang out with the likes of Rod Stewart. Botham, however, didn’t want to miss an important three-dayer at Scarborough.
It was definitely sexier when Daniel Craig did it
© Rex features
The bright lights of Hollywood aren’t too far from the glare of the stadium spotlights. We take a look at a couple that dabbled in the acting game along with a few who have arguably forged bigger reputations on screen than they ever did in the arena.
VINNIE
JONES
Vinnie is one of the most successful sportsmen turned actors as he’s appeared in over 70 films, including his electrifying début in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
He has a wide acting range whether he is playing a very hard bloke from London in Snatch, a very hard bloke from London in X-Men: The Last Stand, or a very hard bloke from London in Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted.
MIKE
TYSON
Former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson has appeared in 12 films, including The Hangover and Entourage.
It’s unclear if he was actually cast in any of the films or if no one had the guts to tell a convicted criminal boxing champion that they didn’t want him.
The people who had the easiest ride with Tyson on set were the caterers, who only had to provide food that was nicer than Evander Holyfield’s ear.
ARNOLD
SCHWARZENEGGER
Arnie’s world famous for his appearances in movies like the Terminator films, Total Recall and The Expendables, but you may not realise that he started out as a champion bodybuilder.
Interestingly, Arnie was overdubbed in his early films. So although low-budget film-makers didn’t think he sounded good enough for their straight-to-video dross, the people of California thought he sounded good enough to be in charge of the world’s sixth largest economy.
MICHAEL
JORDAN
The world’s greatest ever basketball player made a big-screen appearance in Bugs Bunny film Space Jam.
Michael’s performance was very impressive as despite acting alongside cartoon characters Daffy Duck and Porky Pig he was still the most one dimensional.
DWAYNE
‘THE ROCK’ JOHNSON
Former wrestler ‘The Rock’ has carved out a great career as an action star in films like The Mummy Returns and The Fast and Furious series.
However, I can’t help thinking that the 6ft 5in muscle man may’ve been badly cast in the upcoming biopic of Warwick Davis.
BORN: 24 May 1966, Marseille, France
PLAYER: Auxerre, Marseille, Montpellier, Nîmes, Leeds United, Manchester United and France
1) Even from an early age, Cantona managed to mix on-field genius with a combustible personality that often saw him fall foul of the football authorities. He made a name for himself as a forward at Auxerre as well as a handy fighter after decking a team-mate.
2) His electric performances for the French club and the national side, including a hat-trick against England at the 1988 U21 European Championships, saw his boyhood club Marseille pay a French record fee for his services. Sadly, the move and his career in France stalled.
3) After Sheffield Wednesday boss Trevor Francis turned down the chance to sign him, most probably after seeing his disciplinary rap sheet from France, Leeds stepped in and he helped them win the title before going on to become a Manchester United legend for five years.
4) His infamous kung-fu kick on Palace fan Matthew Simmons saw him banned and fined, but in 2011 Cantona admitted it was ‘a great feeling’ and a memory for fans to treasure. So, why not get Simmons’s nipple from Eric’s studs and put it in the national football museum?
DID YOU KNOW: The Frenchman went into acting after he retired, but his most famous role was playing himself in Ken Loach’s Looking for Eric. The F-word is used around 200 times in the film – just less than Simmons used it after getting that karate kick.
And here he is playing the lead role in a new film
called Neil Ruddock: The Movie
When you add up the hours spent actually competing, sports stars only spend a fraction of their week in combat. How do they chill out, then, in between the occasional training session?
GLEN JOHNSON
Liverpool right-back Johnson is not like your stereotypical footballer when it comes to chilling out between training and games. Instead of spending hours glued to the screen playing video games, he studied for a maths degree. The England star spends two hours a day poring over Open University algebra and trigonometry, and often gets his team-mates to test him on coach journeys to matches. The former Portsmouth player explained, ‘I’ve always liked maths so I thought, “Why not? There’s not a job in the world that maths can’t help you with.” My teachers used to say,