Friday 05-02-2016 - 16:39

 

As part of the 25^th Anniversary of GCU Sport, we’ve been reconnecting with some of alumni to ask them about their memories from when they studied at the university and what student sport was like during their time here.

 

Pat Nevin is a former professional footballer who has played for Chelsea and Everton, amongst others, as well as winning 28 caps for Scotland. He is also a football pundit and can be heard most weekends covering Premiership games on BBC Radio 5 Live as well as appearing on Match of the Day. Before Pat became a pro footballer he graduated from Glasgow Caledonian with an Arts degree.

 

We asked some of our students for questions for Pat and put them to him.

 

If you hadn’t have been a successful footballer, what would you have been?

“Love to say something exotic, but probably a teacher, the rest of the family went down that route.”

 

Who’s the funniest co-presenter you’ve worked with?

 “They are generally funny as such, though Colin Murray and I could make each other laugh.”

 

From your days on Sportscene, do you actually know what a brammer* is, Pat?

 “I'm from Easterhouse, of course I know what a brammer is!”

*A brammer is West of Scotland for a belter!

 

 If you could do a postgrad, what would you study?

 “English/fine art.”

 

Do you keep up to date with student sport?

 “I follow the badminton results as my daughter plays university badminton in Scotland.”

 

What did you have for breakfast?

 “Only eat fruit at breakfast, bananas or blueberries etc.”

 

Did you prefer playing football in England or Scotland?

“Great question. It depended on the players around me really. My first season at Chelsea and my year at Kilmarnock were great fun. The standard was much higher at the top level in England and I enjoyed playing against the best players around.”

 

What’s the best and worst grounds you played at?

“The old Wimbledon ground was awful. The best depends, I enjoyed home games at Goodison Park when I was at Everton, The Aztec Stadium in Mexico was phenomenal but Celtic Park is hard to beat to be honest.”

 

Would you rather do a training session with our cheerleaders or Muay Thai?

“I'll need to research that one before I answer it.”

 

What is your fondest memory of GCU and sport at GCU?

“5 a sides were great between the different course teams, before they found out I was a pro with Clyde and playing for the Scotland Under 18 side, winning the European Championship. They were less keen on allowing me to play after that.”

 

What’s your signature dance move?

“Always just tried to copy David Bowie really... and really badly.”

 

Do you fancy a Wednesday Night Bamboo (WNB)* with the GCU Sports teams?

“Do you reckon I should?”

* Wednesday Night Bamboo is GCU Sport’s after match club night.