Western Daily Press (Saturday)
England striker Lambert loved his time at the Mem
OVER a decade after leaving the Memorial Stadium, Rickie Lambert still remembers life at Bristol Rovers fondly.
The striker, now aged 38, believes his move down south almost 15 years ago was a turning point in a career which saw him play in a World Cup for England.
Liverpool-born Lambert describes joining Paul Trollope’s Pirates as one of his best decisions, and he remains revered by fans as one of the best players to don the famous blue and white quarters. In three years with the Pirates, he amassed a staggering highlight reel of scarcely-believable goals and heroic performances, helping Rovers into League One.
In a wide-ranging interview The Rochdale Connection author Chris Fitzgerald, now-retired Lambert recalled his emotions on leaving Rochdale – where he struck up a fruitful partnership with another player to go on to better things, Grant Holt – for Rovers in 2006 for a fee in the region of £200,000.
“I was offered a new contract by Rochdale,” he said. “I wasn’t saying no, but I was holding off. I wanted to progress up the leagues and I wasn’t sure Rochdale were going to do that.
“I didn’t want to tie my future down at that time. It was the August transfer deadline day and (boss) Steve Parkin took me into his office to tell me Bristol Rovers had come in for me. I had three or four hours to decide the next three or four years of my career. It was very stressful.”
Ultimately, after some soul searching, Lambert decided on a move to the Mem, and he was vindicated with a superb debut season which culminated in promotion from League Two.
“There were a few things in my private life that were stopping me being as professional as I needed to be,” Lambert revealed.
“They were holding me back. It was nothing to do with Rochdale. I loved Rochdale. It was my own issue.
“I thought if I took the Bristol move, it would force me to leave Liverpool, where I still lived, and the comfort of home. That’s what I felt I needed to do. It turned out to be one of the best things I ever did. I wasn’t quite isolated in Bristol, but I was by myself a lot and everything became solely about my football career for the first time.
“I progressed into a better player at Bristol Rovers. We got promoted out of League Two through the playoffs and did okay in League One.”
But, after earning hero status among Gasheads with 51 goals in 128 appearances, Lambert was presented with another quandary in 2009. Life was good at Rovers, but he knew he had to move to further his career.
“I had scored 29 goals in my third season,” he recalled. “In my head, I was ready to progress and play Championship football. In many ways, it was like Rochdale all over again. I didn’t think Bristol Rovers were going to make that step up to the Championship. I loved it there, though. I would never have put in a transfer request or anything like that. For me to leave, someone would have to come in for me.
“I remember that summer came and went and nobody came in for me. I felt disappointed. Not because I was still at Bristol Rovers, but because it felt like nobody believed in me. The season started and then Southampton came in for me after the first game. I knew I had to go.
“They had just been relegated to League One, but when I met the chairman and spoke to the manager, Alan Pardew, and heard their plans for promotion and beyond, I said ‘This has to happen’.
“There were a few scary moments when Bristol Rovers were, quite rightly, trying to get as much money for me as they could, but I was doing my best to get the move pushed through.”
It proved to be the right decision for Lambert, and more than 100 goals and back-to-back promotions later he was in the Premier League.
And, at the age of 31, he realised his dream of playing for England.
“My call up was surreal,” he said. “I’d been in hospital all that night with my wife, who was giving birth to my baby girl. I went home and went straight to bed in the morning. I woke up at midday to 50 missed calls and 120 messages.
“I thought that’s a hell of a lot of well-wishers for the birth of my daughter. One of the first messages said ‘Please call the gaffer’. I was like ‘What’s this?’ So I called him and was told I was in the England squad. I didn’t even know the squad was being named that day. I thought I was being wound up.”
But it was the real thing, though the fairy tale was not over. He came off the bench and scored a header with his first touch to beat Scotland 3-2 at Wembley.
“I’ve had a lot of great moments playing for my league clubs, but that probably is the best moment of my career,” he said.
“It felt like everything had been building up to it. I remember sitting on the bench at the game itself, being absolutely desperate to get on.
“I didn’t envisage my impact being as extreme as scoring the winning goal with my first touch. That was something else, indescribable.”
A World Cup adventure followed, though it ended in misery as Roy Hodgson’s Three Lions crashed out in the group stages in 2014.
However, it was still a memorable summer for Lambert as boyhood club Liverpool came calling.
He added: “It was turning into an incredible year for me. The club I supported as a boy, and still do, wanted to pay money for me. I was very emotional, though.
“I saw myself retiring at Southampton, but the pull of Liverpool was too strong and I was never going to say no to them.”
■ The quotes in this story were taken from Chris Fitzgerald’s book The Rochdale Connection.