RIC’S POTTERS PRIDE
Former Stoke striker Fuller delighted to be honoured by the club after bar renovation
RICARDO Fuller has spoken of his pride as his name goes up in lights once again at Stoke City.
The mercurial striker is 43 now and it is a decade since he last pulled on red and white – but he is back at the club as a youth coach, working through the age groups, and he has lent his name to a bar at the back of the Boothen End after a £2.5m makeover.
The work done on the old Delilah’s over the last few months has actually cost five times as much as Tony Pulis spent to bring Fuller to the Potteries in the first place, from Southampton back in the late summer of 2006 – knowing that he would fail a medical.
But it proved a snip and after helping Stoke get up and stay up in the Premier League on a wave of magic moments, Fuller describes the club as his soulmate.
He said: “It’s always been the same, it’s never changed. Since I arrived in 2006 I’ve lived in the same place that Mr Tony Pulis showed me, I live there still. My kids were born in Royal Stoke, 11 and four. I come to almost every home game, I was down at the training ground every now and again without wanting to impose myself too much, but now I’m there as a coach.
“I’ve always been part of the club even after I finished in 2012. I was playing up until 36 but still coming here. Nothing has changed, it’s always been there.”
He added: “It’s an absolute privilege. A guy like me from Jamaica, growing up most of the days on the street kicking a football around, to achieving a great honour like this is an unbelievable feeling.
“For me to achieve what I’ve done I had to know that I was part of something greater than myself. As players, as fans, as owners, the club is the most important thing. A hundred years from now when we’re not here anymore, the football club will still be here. I’m honoured to be part of its history.”
The bar renovation is part of a £6m investment in infrastructure at the bet365 Stadium and training ground this year and kicks off a £20m five-year project.
The club spoke to staff and the fans’ council about changing the name and joint-chairman John Coates was pleased to see the nod go to his favourite player. Pulis was invited to the opening night on Thursday too but has been in the United States visiting family.
Fuller said: “What I did when I found out the sports bar was officially called Ricardo’s, I knew that Tony would have been invited but I wanted to make sure. I would have given two of my tickets, or three or four, to get him here. I rang him but unfortunately he was already booked to go to Florida to see (his son) Ant.
“That was the first thing because if it wasn’t for him and Danny Higginbotham, I probably wouldn’t be where I am right now.
“When you find a manager who allows you to be yourself you are very lucky. Especially in modern day football as it keeps evolving, your man management skills have to be 100 per cent, 110 per cent. You see Klopp and Guardiola treat their players and in turn their players run through brick walls for them.
“That’s what the gaffer got me to do. He knew when I was going to go out, going to stay in, when to give me a push and when he needed to tell me off. I would accept that.
“It was just like a plant: you need water and sunlight. Water represents challenge and sunlight represents support. You need all those things to grow. Under Mr Tony Pulis, I definitely grew.”
Fuller managed to bag the club an invitation to the Caribbean when he put Britain’s High Commissioner to Jamaica, Judith
Slater – a Stoke supporter who has been based in Kingston since last year – on speaker phone.
But he had to tell his rather excited mum to call him back while he entertained guests and former team-mates.
“She has been over the moon about this,” he said. “My number one fan.”