A recently retired England international has admitted that part of the reason he signed for Liverpool instead of Chelsea was because the west London club used to make new signings do brutal initiations.
Initiations have been commonplace in football for several years, with many clubs using them as a way of ‘breaking the ice’ following the arrival of new players.
There are some odd examples of initiations, with Arsenal just one of the Premier League clubs that still make their recruits sing a song in front of the group.
According to the Gunners midfielder Christian Norgaard, who arrived from Brentford in the summer transfer window, new signings are made to stand on a chair in front of “50 or 60 people” while singing a song of their choice.
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However, sometimes initiations go further than a song and can cross a line.
In his 2011 autobiography, former Manchester United captain Gary Neville described how some young players were forced to perform embarrassing acts on cardboard cutouts of ex-United midfielder Clayton Blackmore during the 1990s.
Neville claimed: “As Barry White music played, I, or whichever unlucky apprentice had been chosen, would have to dance around the table and pretend to get off with Wales's right-back.
“I can't tell you how excruciating that is for a 16-year-old in front of an audience of his heroes like Mark Hughes and Bryan Robson.”
Of course, these days, initiations are not so extreme, but this did not prevent one former Premier League star from turning down a potential move to Chelsea because he knew they would make him do an initiation song.
During a recent episode of former Premier League goalkeeper Ben Foster’s podcast, the ‘Fozcast’, recently retired former Manchester City, Liverpool and England shot stopper Scott Carson revealed that the thought of having to do an initiation did in fact influence his decision to sign for the Reds over Chelsea in 2005.
Carson, who won four England caps between 2006 and 2011, signed for Liverpool from Leeds United in 2005 and turned down the chance to sign for Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea side despite meeting the Portuguese at his house.
When asked about whether the ‘rumour’ regarding the initiation was true, Carson replied: “Obviously I knew about the initiation stuff and to be fair I was s******* myself about that.
“I’d never done one before. I was 18. They [Chelsea] were offering me double [the wages] Liverpool were [but] with Liverpool I was two and a half hours away from my mum. They [family] could come and see me.”
Carson also claimed he was not ready to live in London and had to do future initiations at other clubs.
The 40-year-old was City’s third-choice goalkeeper between 2019 and 2025, having earlier enjoyed spells as number one at West Bromwich Albion, Bursapor and Derby County.
Topics: Football, Premier League, Liverpool, Chelsea
Luke Davies