A man on a Mersey mission
FORMER EVERTON STAR TONY GRANT
THEY played against each other in Merseyside derbies and forged a coaching alliance on three continents.
Former Everton midfielder Tony Grant and Kop legend Robbie Fowler have been friends since they were team-mates for Liverpool Schoolboys (below, right).
And their globetrotting adventures have included an audience backstage with Sir Elton John in Australia.
The Rocket Man’s first UK No.1 was his duet with Kiki Dee, Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, and Grant’s wife – whose name, wait for it, is Kiki Dee – was gutted to miss out on meeting Sir Elton.
Grant would later work as Fowler’s assistant coach in India and Saudi Arabia, but now he has gone back to his roots by launching A&K Football Education, an inspired initiative to help wayward kids back into mainstream learning.
Grant’s project, with business partner Kevin Kirby, offers renewed hope to lost souls.
“A lot of kids find mainstream school too much of a challenge and they go missing,” said Grant. “They were stuck in the house during the Covid pandemic and it’s had a massive impact.
“We are trying to make a difference by changing their mindset with a course based on football skills and physical activity, with wellness workshops to improve their mental health.
“We’ve already had one success story – a quiet lad who’s been out of school for more than two years, and who had every reason to stay away after a dental operation.
“I wasn’t expecting to see him if he was feeling groggy, but I couldn’t believe it when he walked in straight from the dentist’s chair.”
Grant, now 49, and Fowler will tell their Life Stories at a oneoff show in Kilkenny on June 5.
Their yarns about working for Brisbane Roar in Australia’s A-League, East Bengal in India and Al-Qadsiah in Saudi Arabia are worth a wider audience.
“Wherever you work in the world, a country’s greatest assets are its people and the culture,” said Grant.
“Rob’s a really good manmanager, so when we were in Saudi earlier this year, if some of the players had to pray when there was a team meeting scheduled, prayers came first.
“And the weather has a big influence – we are lucky in Europe because when it’s cold and raining, you are grateful to run around, but when it’s 40 degrees you can’t go flat-out.”
Australia? Great experience, sad the way it ended.
“Rob knows everyone, or everyone knows him, and when Elton John played one of the first dates on his farewell tour in Brisbane, we were invited to go and meet him behind the scenes.
“When I rang my wife back home in England and told her, she burst out crying because she wanted to be there. And not just because her name is Kiki Dee!
“We managed to get the last plane out of Australia before the country was locked down and we would have been stuck there for ages.”
Grant and Fowler were soon in demand again – this time in one of the world’s fastest-growing leagues.
“Almost straight away after we got home, we were contacted by East Bengal,” said Grant. “The club is based in Kolkata, but the Indian Super League was all being played in a bubble in Goa because of Covid.
“After 10 days in hotel quarantine, we only had 10 days to prepare the squad for our opening game, against our big rivals ATK, also from Kolkata.
“We were doing well, against all odds, for 70 minutes until a shot from the edge of the box somehow beat our keeper, even though it was in the middle of the goal and along the floor, and we lost 1-0.”
The double act’s brief spell at Al-Qadsiah earlier this year was a curate’s egg – and Grant hasn’t solved the mystery. He said: “I don’t understand why they sacked Robbie because he was undefeated (six wins and two draws).
“They said they wanted to switch to a Spanish model. The Spanish fella who took over has had three or four defeats alread.
“But Robbie and I go back about 35 years, and you learn to take everything football throws at you. Now I’m trying to give something