Football is great, but God is greater The BIG ASK
QYou became a Christian at the age of 18 when you were a young player at QPR, didn’t you?
AI went with my mum one evening to church and I was invited to a bible study group. I walked into the room as the one with money, career and fame but I was struggling to find a purpose. My eyes were opened there. I turned and believed the gospel. Everything changed for me. Life wasn’t about me anymore, it was about God and his purpose.
Q
Was it hard being a Christian in the tough world of football?
A
In some ways but it was natural to be open and honest. You’re with a bunch of men for 10 months a year, they know what you do at the weekend. There was banter, they looked to see if my walk matched my talk. In general, people were very respectful of my faith even if they didn’t share it. I have heard it said, as a Christian, how are you going to have the aggression needed in football? But all of life is under God. Sport was the role he gave me, so I could play within the rules of the sport. If it demanded aggression, that helped me be the best footballer I could be.
Q
You had a great career winning promotion with Newcastle, reaching an FA Cup final and a European semi-final with Chelsea? A
I loved playing for all my clubs. I had two spells at QPR so I have a deep love for that club. At Chelsea, I played my biggest games – a European Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final in 1995 and the FA Cup final in 1994. Newcastle was a love affair under Kevin Keegan and
Gavin Peacock was one of the top midfielders of the 1990s. He played more than 600 games for QPR, Gillingham, Bournemouth, Newcastle, Chelsea and Charlton – scoring 137 goals. He then became a television pundit, only to turn his back on football in 2008 to take his young family to Canada and become a pastor.
my most free-scoring for Chelsea, was a huge influence, spell. That was a real wasn’t he? high.
Q A
Massive. The biggest influence Glenn Hoddle, apart from my dad, Keith, who though, who played more than 500 league games signed you for Charlton. Keegan said to me when I left Newcastle: “You will learn more from playing with Hoddle in training than anything else, he is a genius. I played with some great players: Ruud
Gullit, Gianfranco Zola, Roberto Di Matteo, but Hoddle was the best footballing mind of them all.
QAfter your second spell at QPR you became a TV pundit on Match of the Day – and you enjoyed that, didn’t you?
A
I loved it. I had six years with the BBC. I was going to the big events such as World Cups and European Championships - I did Songs of Praise as well. I loved being able to communicate insights to people.
Q
But then, in 2008, you turned your back on it all to take your family to Canada to train to be a pastor.
A
I felt compelled to do it. I had the urge to preach. But I wanted to learn away from the public gaze in England. It was not easy, uprooting my family and moving 5,000 miles away to be a theological student. And it was minus 25 degrees after we arrived. My kids were young, we didn’t know people. I felt responsible for causing this hurt to my family in England, I felt the weight of that. But we bonded closer as a family. Our faith grew. You learn what you rely on.
Q
You’ve been a pastor in Calgary, Alberta, for nearly 10 years?
A
Yes – this is my life now – unless one of my clubs wants me to come back and manage them. But life here is good, my family are all settled here now. I miss football, of course I do. For me football is great, but God is greater.
●A Greater Glory, from Pitch to Pulpit by Gavin Peacock is available from May 7 at £11.99 from Christian Focus Publications.