Graeme Anthony | Vinnie Jones, Dwight Yorke & Old-School Dressing-Room Stories

Former Carlisle United midfielder Graeme Anthony joins Chris Lumsdon, Skip Boyd and Dylan McGeouch for an episode packed with old-school football stories, honest opinions and an important tribute to Tony Hopper.Graeme looks back on leaving home at 15 to join Sheffield United, cleaning the boots of Premier League players and sharing a dressing room with stars including Vinnie Jones and Brian Deane.He reveals what reserve-team football was really like, recalls a brilliant prank involving Dwight Yorke and discusses working under legendary managers such as Dave Bassett and Howard Kendall.The lads also debate whether modern academies are coaching the individuality out of young players, share more outrageous football night-out stories and discuss the latest situation at Carlisle United.Most importantly, Graeme shares his memories of former Carlisle United and Workington midfielder Tony Hopper, who passed away after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease.Tony’s memorial weekend takes place on 30 and 31 May, with a special match in Penrith at 2pm on Sunday 31 May featuring former Carlisle United, Workington and Penrith players.Also featuring:• Vinnie Jones and Sheffield United stories• The Dwight Yorke dressing-room prank• Why modern football academies could be broken• Wayne Rooney and the loss of street footballers• Carlisle United’s managerial situation• Who Am I?• What’s the Crack?• Youth-team jobs and old-school coaching• Tony Hopper memories and memorial weekendTIMESTAMPS00:00 Dylan’s food intervention01:12 Introducing Graeme Anthony02:37 Remembering Tony Hopper03:35 Football Manager legends and cheat codes06:24 The Sunderland trip that went badly wrong10:27 Graeme’s journey into professional football13:21 Life as a Premier League apprentice18:22 Nearly walking away from Sheffield United19:16 Graeme’s brilliant Dwight Yorke prank20:05 What Martin Keown was really like23:04 Swindon, Plymouth and an uncertain future24:11 Carlisle United’s retained list28:02 Carlisle’s managerial situation33:13 Who Am I?38:13 Billy Whitehurst and Vinnie Jones stories40:34 How Graeme joined Carlisle United43:53 The incredible Jimmy Glass survival story46:07 Whiskey before Carlisle’s biggest match49:52 Celebrating Carlisle’s great escape52:25 Moving to Barrow and Workington57:57 The nerves before making your professional debut59:56 Is the football academy system broken?1:04:20 Old-school youth-team managers1:08:16 Footballers’ nightmare digs stories1:13:54 The most annoying football anthem1:16:03 What’s the Crack?1:16:10 What went wrong at Carlisle United?1:24:40 Tony Hopper’s MND story and memorial weekend1:32:31 Final message from GraemeSubscribe to 3 In The Middle for weekly episodes featuring former professionals Chris Lumsdon and Skip Boyd, current player Dylan McGeouch and special guests from across football.#3InTheMiddle #GraemeAnthony #CarlisleUnited #VinnieJones #FootballPodcast