Emile Heskey admits he slapped ex- Aston Villa ace Lee Hendrie when he played for Birmingham City. The former England man then made the switch to Villa Park only a few years later.
Heskey began his career with local side Leicester City before making a then-record transfer to Liverpool in 2000. There, he became a regular in the England set-up and won the UEFA Cup, two League Cups and the FA Cup.
But in 2004, he was all but forced to leave Anfield and signed for Birmingham City. He recalled a fiery encounter with rivals Villa, unaware he would end up playing for the club years later.
In March 2005, Birmingham hosted Villa at St. Andrew’s and won 2-0 thanks to goals from Heskey and Julian Gray. In the final stages, things got heated between Hendrie and Blues defender Mario Melchiot.
Speaking on In The Mixer, brought to you by Sky Bet, Heskey said: “It went off. We won that game. It was Lee Hendrie and Mario. The Dutch can do tricks.
“He started doing rainbow flicks in the corner. The far corner. He was doing that and everyone was going, ‘Ole, ole.’ Then the whistle went for full time and Lee Hendrie wasn’t having it, saying, ‘What are you doing?’
“He was giving him stick from the far corner all the way to the tunnel. I’m watching it and thinking, ‘I’m getting upset.’ Mario’s like, ‘Don’t worry about it, man.’ He’s very calm, saying, ‘Don’t worry about it, the game’s finished.’
Melchiot was at the centre of the row(Image: Getty)
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“By the time I got out of the tunnel, I slapped him (Hendrie). But I think it was [Stefan] Postma, the goalie, who grabbed me and then it all kicked off.”
Heskey’s arrival at St. Andrew’s from Liverpool was also quite a tumultuous affair. He wanted to stay at Anfield for one more year before eventually being forced out.
“I spoke with Liverpool and I still had a year there,” he added. “But the then-CEO [Rick Parry], who is now the EFL chief, came to me and said, ‘We’ve accepted a deal from Birmingham, you can go talk to them.’
“I said, ‘Nah, I’m fine.’ He goes, ‘No, we’re buying [Djibril] Cisse. You can leave.’ I’m like ‘Okay, cool, cool.’ You’ve got a decision to make then haven’t you? I ended up going to Birmingham and enjoyed it.”
Heskey played for Villa from 2009 until 2012(Image: Getty)
Heskey left Blues for Wigan in 2006 and three years later, he reunited with Martin O’Neill at Villa. He said on the move: “Coming from Leicester and the era that I came from. There was only one club in the Midlands. That was Villa – no disrespect to anyone else.
“When I was playing, the two big clubs were Villa and Coventry. Going to Villa was huge and you realise how big it is when you actually get there. Facilities, all the coaches, the fans.
“A huge, huge club. Because I’d gone to Wigan in between, no one really said anything [about swapping Blues for Villa]. Even though I’d played against Villa for Blues and we’d won!”
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