Episode 3 The Clare Balding Show

A site that has never been seen before, a super successful football

manager, hockey champion being coached in the art of ski jumping!

APPLAUSE CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Thank you very much! Thank you, hello and welcome to the

programme-macro, and what a line-up we have tonight, my three guests, as

you have seen, are just terrific sport, and they have battled their

way to the very pinnacle of their individual activities, captivating

the public along the way, here to share their fascinating stories. One

of Britain's most recognisable and best loved sportsmen and his

legendary performance at the 1988 Winter Olympics will soon be

immortalised in a Hollywood film, it is Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE And she is one of Britain's greatest

ever hockey stars with over 300 international appearances, aiming to

add to her impressive medal tally at the Rio Olympics, one of our

greatest ever athletes, I think, Kate Richardson-Walsh is here!

But first up tonight, one of Britain's finest and most respected

football managers, who has led two of the Premier League's biggest

clubs and worked with the brightest stars. He led Everton for 11 years,

in which he was named manager of the year three times and steered the

club to Champions League qualification, whilst bringing

through some of the biggest stars in the game. Hugely admired, it was no

surprise that Sir Alex Ferguson chose David Moyes as his successor

at Old Trafford. Following an eventful season, they parted ways,

but he accepted another huge challenge, heading to Spain to take

charge of Real Sociedad. A top manager, one of the biggest names in

British football, please welcome David Moyes.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Hi! Have a seat.

David, thank you so much for doing the show, and also for having a

sense of humour enough to jump off a sofa with Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards.

Really enjoyable! I don't think Jose Mourinho would have done that. I

think Evie was on with Eddie, he would have! Can you go to a match

and enjoy it, or do you find all the press are looking at you, and the

managers are thinking, why is here? Am I going to be sacked? I love

going to the games, not taking anybody's job, that is the last

thing I would do, certainly after my situation, I go to enjoy football,

but I go to keep my knowledge up. If you offered the chance to do the

Manchester United job again, would you, what would you do differently?

I wouldn't do anything different and less I had known it was ten months

instead of six years. -- unless. Everybody knows that if you have

that sort of span, it changes how you think. My understanding was

going to a club which looked after their managers, even when they were

in trouble, and it wasn't going well, you got time to sort things

out. I had a great group of players, they have recently won the Premier

League under Sir Alex, but it was going to take time for that to

change, evolve, and there was going to be a changeover in time. But it

couldn't be done in ten months. Would I take it again? Of course I

would, very few managers in the world who wouldn't want to manage

Manchester United. It has to be the biggest compliment to any person

that Sir Alex Ferguson BECTU and supported you as much as he could.

-- picked you. He did, a lot of people had said many times, it

didn't help - I thought it did help, he was great, I would speak to him

after games, we met privately three or four macro times in the period I

was there. All the things which were said or written, so much of it was

untrue, and it is difficult, it is not easy to come out and say all the

things that you want to say, but Sir Alex was good to me, the club were

good to me, no problems at all. As we speak at the moment, Louis van

Gaal is still at Manchester United, you talked about the level of

criticism that they get, do you empathise with him in the sense that

it is not easy? I think, after Sir Alex, the job was always going to be

very difficult. It was going to take time to rebuild, it was a rebuilding

job at Manchester United, and you have to remember that David Gill

left, a big influence at Manchester United, and even what Manchester

United stand for is that they keep their managers, they have always

supported their managers before, so I hope they stick with Louis van

Gaal, he deserves more time. They do not want to become a club which

continuously changes their manager. We don't want to see that. Having

worked abroad, would you say the press in the UK is tougher than

other countries, the level of intrusion and criticism? I think the

press are the same, but I think the media in Spain, you know, I mean the

way they analyse Real Madrid and Barcelona is incredible, and you can

see the players talking with their hand over their mouth, because they

are being lip-read, so the players cannot speak openly, the coaches

cannot speak. The one thing in Spain, me and Billy McKinlay were

there, both Scottish, they could not understand

there, both Scottish, they could not need to do that! They didn't have a

clue what we were talking about! The highlights of your time at Real

Sociedad, I imagine, beating Barcelona, would you put that

Sociedad, I imagine, beating top? Definitely, that is

Sociedad, I imagine, beating signing, I should say! Beating

Barcelona, signing, I should say! Beating

tried, it is so difficult, they like a double-decker bus, score a

goal in the first it. Manager of the year three times

at Everton, why were you so successful there? Evidence suited me

exactly at the time. -- Everton. It was a great time in my career, and I

have got to say, I was really was a great time in my career, and I

fortunate to work with good people and players. Some of it is also

fortunate to work with good people developing young talent, and the

brightest star of all was Wayne Rooney. When did you think, that boy

is going to be a superstar? I just got the job, and we had a game, I

think it was the semifinal of the FA Youth Cup, and Wayne was playing,

and he scored, and I walked down onto the pitch, the boys were doing

a cool down, I tapped him, and I said you will be with me next year,

son. It was natural in him, he had a great fire in his belly to be a

player. And, you know, he has gone on to prove and break so many

records. How do you assess him right now in his career? Because he

started so young, is he bound to start fading early? Years having a

tough time just now, but I think he will come through it again. -- he is

having. I think he will go on to be a midfield player and play again,

but at the moment he is still such a good goal-scorer, you know, you

don't want to give that up just yet. So much I want to ask you, so

quickfire quiz, give me the first answer that comes into your head,

and they will do if you pass! Best player? Wayne Rooney. Greatest win

as a manager? Barcelona. Could you ever manage Liverpool? Yeah!

Pass! Manager you have most enjoyed beating. It was whoever was managing

Liverpool. LAUGHTER

APPLAUSE And that me and said the previous

question when you said pass! Fair enough, he has and said most of

them! -- that may answer. Time to introduce our second guest, one of

our greatest ever hockey players, and with British hockey on the rise

again, she is set to star at her fourth Olympic Games. A born leader,

Kate Richardson-Walsh has captained the England and Great Britain hockey

teams for over ten years. She led England to a

teams for over ten years. She led world champions Holland at 2015's

Eurohockey tournament, and now she is aiming for Rio with Great Britain

having already won Olympic bronze at the London games.

having already won Olympic bronze at hockey superstars, please welcome

Kate Richardson-Walsh! CHEERING

We have got a lot of hockey fans into night, they are very excited

that you are on. For those who might not be as familiar as these fun at!,

it is incredible, you have appeared at 80 Eurohockey championships, four

Commonwealth Games, as well as the Champions Trophy, the challenge

trophy, the world league. -- eight Eurohockey championships. She broke

her jaw and played on at the tournament. She is basically...

CHEERING And she led her site to a bronze

medal at the Olympics, what is your number one? It is so hard, it is a

tie between the European gold medal and the Olympic bronze medal. The

European is the most recent. Awesome game, to come from 2-0 down against

the reigning world and Olympic champions... It was here in the

Olympic Park, wasn't it? I'm sure some of you were watching, and it

really did make the difference, the support was amazing. From 2-0 down,

talk as clue what happened. We had kept two penalty corners up our

sleeves, but they did not go to plan, either of them. We had to find

a way to win, and we found a way to make it work. By hook or by crook,

we were going to take the game two penalties. Fantastic reflex is, it

goes to penalties. My wife, Helen Richardson-Walsh, she was fouled,

she had to take the penalty stroke. Maddie Hinch, the best goalkeeper,

came and saved as. She was amazing, watch the celebration! And I would

like to make it clear that she actually survived that. Because she

is here onstage with you lifting the trophy. She was injured, mind you,

we did injure her knee. I get worried about this, it always

happens in football, have you ever told players not to jump on each

other? I think you want them to celebrate, that is part of it, you

want them to engage with the supporters. But you do worry a bit

about injuries, and some players have done somersaults, if you can

remember, and damage to themselves. We had to ban the somersaults. Do

captain? I absolutely love it, I heard use big about being a football

manager, it is the same for me, it is an obsession, every waking

thought I am thinking about the players, the team, the tactics, the

next tournament, it is constant, nonstop. And hockey seems to be on

the rise at the moment. Certainly off the back of London 2012, we saw

a huge influx of people rejoining clubs, we have helped inspire a new

generation of players, I really feel proud we have created that. The team

have qualified for Rio 2016. Easily, haven't they? Yeah. But you do not

know whether you will be part of the team. There is a squad of 31, and we

will train all the way up to the Olympic Games, until the selection

around June time. But you are up for selection, which wasn't going to be

the case, after the Commonwealth Games, you had said you were

retiring. Yeah, I was feeling my age, and mentally I found it a very

tough year, and I just needed a break. The Commonwealth Games, I

think, did revive the energy in me again, and by the end of the

Commonwealth Games I have made my decision that I did want to come

back, but I knew I had to take a break, I wasn't doing myself or the

team justice. What did you do in the break? Up by coming back, I was

going to have to come back and train with the show I was worthy of a

place in the squad. I didn't really take time off. -- and train with the

development squad to show I was worthy.

She was in rehab. She had two back surgeries and she put in the hours

by herself to get that into shape. You supported her by going around

the world? Yes, slightly controversial, thank you! It was a

self is decision. -- selfish. Helen supported me in that selfish

decision and now we both the better for it but I just needed that time

get away. Why do you think it is same-sex relationships are so much

more accepted in women's sport and nobody cares but in men's sport, it

is not often talked about? Myself growing up, I grew up around a

hockey team, my mum played and it was completely acceptable. Women

with women, women with men, it was part of their life. My dad played

cricket and there was nothing like that. I don't know, I just hope that

somebody will come out. I think it will be a big news story initially

and then hopefully just make it normal. Four men in sport. It is

hard. I think it is hard and there is a stigma and a tabboo and I would

love to see that barrier broken down and it is one of the last barriers

in sport. David, it will take the right manager to guide that player

and help make them feel secure and confident and there is an argument

to say they would improve as a player. If they are not hiding

something any more. Yes, I think it is big, think -- becoming more

common and rightly so. I had Thomas Hitzlsperger at Everton and I did

not know. It is not easy, the abuse you could get. I do understand the

reasons why people do not. The band would find anything to abuse you

over. Of course. Would you have a conversation with Thomas and as why

he did not feel he could come out at Everton? I have only seen him once

since he left but when I do meet with him in time, I would love to

talk to him and to see how he felt at that time among the group and the

players. But he was a really good player and a good bloke. Not many

people break their jaw in the first match of an Olympic Games and say, I

will put this strapping on with the Team GB logo on it still! And two

matches later, I will play on through it. It just seems a bit

surreal. As I said to everybody, you would do exactly the same in my

position. If you have trained or your life for this moment to have a

once in a lifetime opportunity to play at the Olympics, a home crowd,

a medal contender, whatever the surgeon said, I was going to grab

the possibility. He would be the contenders for medals in Rio? I

would think we would be there or thereabouts. We did not do so well

in the recent tournament in Argentina but we definitely are

pushing the medal positions. The likes of Holland, Australia,

Argentina. And ourselves, and New Zealand, America. So an exciting

Olympic Games. Is that it bore you, the Olympics? If you get selected

and I know you keep giving that as a warning. -- is that your last

tournament. Yes, that will be my last tournament. Body, mind and soul

need to move on. It is going to be difficult but it must come at some

point. Would you consider coaching as your next move? I would love to

coach. I love the game. I have this knowledge from over the years and

you can replace it but it is as close as you would get to playing. I

know you would be very successful at that as well. It is time to welcome

our final guest. He captivated the world in 1988 with his performance

at the Calgary Winter Olympics. His life story is about to hit the big

screen and he is hugely popular and greatly loved, please welcome Eddie

'the Eagle' Edwards! APPLAUSE. I love the fact you even give a halt

as if you are flying through I love the fact you even give a halt

air! Even that is designed! How as a little boy do you dream of ski

jumping in a country that has no ski jumping? I did not originally want

to start ski jumping, it just turned out. I started on a

to start ski jumping, it just turned at 13 and I loved it. I came from

Cheltenham and Gloucester had one of the biggest dry ski slopes in the

country and I was there every night after school, the weekends,

holidays, and it took over my life. Skiing is one thing but ski jumping

is another. Do you remember the first time? That is not something

you can do by half measures. I remember every one of my ski jumps!

About 65,000. I started my first in Lake Placid in New York. I was there

racing. I ran out of money and I saw the jumps and thought we had Alpine

skiers and cross-country and Biathlon but never a jumper and I

thought I would give it a go. Kate is shaking her head! You would never

get me on a ski jump. We should remind everybody a deep's ski-jumper

in Calgary in 1988. -- Eddy's. Cheltenham's favourite

and a lot of the people here today to see Eddie. Conditions very safe.

No obstacles. There you are coming he is safely

down. Listen to the crowd. It is not an enormous jump by any standards

but it is a British record, you have seen it here. He has made it as a

ski-jumper. 71 metres. Eddie the Eagle. The crowd love him. He is not

going to get high style marks, he knows that coming he has never

impressed the judges yet with his style.

APPLAUSE. Britain's first ever ski-jumper at

the Winter Olympics. And as they said, the crowd loved you, it was

massive. 89,500 people. Amazing. Even before you competed they loved

you. They were mad for you at the airport. Yes, there was a banner

saying, welcome to airport. Yes, there was a banner

the Eagle. I said, who is that? They said, that is you. They named you?

Yes, a group of supporters from a company in Calgary. You stuck with

it and it has worked. It is very dangerous as a sport and we talked

about hockey and football with injuries. You were in hospital many

times. What sort of injuries... Always cheerful in-hospital! What

the classic ski jumping injuries? Most injuries happen to the upper

body. Because the take-off, you dive headfirst out of your skis. When

something goes wrong, you land headfirst so the most common

injuries, broken collar bone, though, jaw and broken ribs. And you

have the occasion when the wind picks you up and you land in the

crowd. You can break everything! Lucky there is no wind here tonight.

When you sit on that very cold bar at the top of the vertical descent,

what are you trying to think in your head that makes you not think about

landing in the crowd? Or on your head. You only think about the

technique that has been drummed into you. Away from the ski-jumper all

your training, it is specific technique. You look at your coach.

He will give you the signal. It has got to start from that bar because

if you do not stop herself from the moment you leave that, it is all

over. Once you start going down, you accelerate so fast and you need to

be balanced on your skis or you cannot regain that balance and on

the take-off, you bunch of cells forward and you fly. It is a

fantastic viewing when you get it right. Terrifying when you get it

wrong. You are not selling it to me! How many balls did you have? Out of

65,000 jumps, I only fell about the Jose Mourinho or nine times. I

fractured my collarbone and I broke my jaw. Not bad, then! I was all

right. How did you find that? I had bits of sponsorship but most of the

time I slept in the car and in a cow shed and in a barn. I did it that

way and I had no real sponsorship. The teams are used to give me

equipment. The Italian national jumping team gave me a helmet and

goggles, West Germany a suit, Austria a pair of skis, the Swiss

coaching, the French coaching. I thought, instead of jumping for

Great Britain, I should jump for the United Nations! So much camaraderie,

it was great. You stole the show at Calgary. Unfortunately! It was my

good looks! It was, definitely! Moustache. Why did we never see you

at another Winter Olympics afterwards? Unfortunately for the

ordinary everyday people who loved me and what I represented, that I

exemplified the Olympic spirit, the officials hated it and said it was

not right that a guy in 58 should get more attention than the guy

winning the event and they thought I was making a mockery of the sport

and bringing it into disrepute. So they brought out the Eddie the Eagle

more and you have to qualify for the World Championships and Olympic

Games and have to be ranked at 50, in the top 50 of your sport or be in

the top 50% qualify. That was a shame because they misinterpreted

what was happening and why. Instead of using me as a vehicle to help

promote skiing and jumping and promote the Olympics, they slammed

the door in my face and said, we don't want you, go away. You almost

too successful for your own good because you were invited on chat

shows. Johnny Carson. After the 120 metres at Calgary, we have five days

before the closing ceremony and they flew me to LA and I met Johnny

Carson. I was on with Burt Reynolds and I still have his number. I did

the Wogan show several times, might they did not touch the ground for

three years, I opened shopping centres, golf courses. You have had

a varied career. Went back to school and I studied law and I did a law

degree and I went back to building and I still do building and

plastering. In between my Eddie the Eagle work, motivational speaking

and television, I plaster ceilings and walls and do buildings and

extensions. That is my bread and butter. Do people know it is you

they are barking? Sometimes sometimes I have gone in and

plastered a ceiling and they have the number wise. I keep it quiet,

somebody rings it up. Let's talk about the film. It is called Eddie

the Eagle and it is in cinemas on April the 1st. But a flavour, this

is a bit of the trailer. As we embark on a new era for

sport... There is an opportunity to discover a new kind of athlete.

Hands up, that was my fault! For as long as I can remember, it has been

my ambition to become an Olympian. Eddie, you are not an athlete! You

are right, I am never going to go to the Olympics, I am going to the

Winter Olympics. Applause.

Where were you when you found out the film was going to be made? In a

well-known supermarket in Stroud and I had a phone call and was, is this

Eddie? This is pundit. Do you know who I am? I said, not really. --

this is Matthew Vaughn. He said, I have bought the rights to your movie

and we begin filming in two months. I said, great, thanks. He said Hugh

Jackman is playing the coach and Taron Egerton. I said, who is he? He

said committee is in my film. He is playing Q. Mr Bob Walken as well. To

be part of that, fantastic! -- Christopher. What did you think

about the choice of Taron Egerton to play you? He has something of you.

Yes, amazing. I sat with him for three hours at Pinewood Studios and

he has my accent and my mannerisms. He has done a fantastic job. Can we

come to the premiere? Yes. I have enjoyed having you on the sober. We

have reached the end of the show but come back because next time I will

be joined by Paralympian and grand slam tennis ace Jordanne Whiley and

boxing superstar David Haye. Thank you to my fantastic guests, to Eddie

'the Eagle' Edwards, Kate Richardson-Walsh and David Moyes! We

will see you very soon, thank you, good eye. -- goodbye.

Listen to that cheer. It's going to be our year.