{"id":34729,"date":"2025-04-20T04:57:32","date_gmt":"2025-04-20T04:57:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/34729\/"},"modified":"2025-04-20T04:57:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T04:57:32","slug":"leeds-are-the-best-team-in-the-league-but-it-all-comes-down-to-these-crucial-games-nigel-martyn-on-his-old-club-closing-in-on-promotion-and-his-new-cricket-career-and-why-ex-team-mate-david-batty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/34729\/","title":{"rendered":"Leeds are the best team in the league but it all comes down to these crucial games: Nigel Martyn on his old club closing in on promotion and his new cricket career… and why ex-team-mate David Batty doesn’t talk to him!"},"content":{"rendered":"

While Leeds United<\/a> edge closer to a top-flight return, one of their former greats has already celebrated Premier League<\/a> promotion.<\/p>\n

Nigel Martyn hung up his football boots almost two decades ago due to a chronic ankle injury. But at the age of 58, the ex-England goalkeeper is back starring in gloves \u2013 this time as a wicketkeeper. And the Whites legend enjoyed success in whites last summer, helping Knaresborough reach the ECB Yorkshire Premier League North, the top tier of club cricket, after winning the Championship West division.<\/p>\n

\u2018There’s nothing better in sport than winning something with your mates,\u2019 says the affable Martyn, sitting in the sun outside the Knaresborough Cricket Club pavilion, a short walk from his home in the market town near Harrogate. \u2018Obviously, it\u2019s bigger if you are doing it for a professional team, but it doesn\u2019t mean any more to the person. It\u2019s just the same. I take it seriously.\u2019<\/p>\n

Martyn is now gearing up for the start of Knaresborough\u2019s 2025 campaign on Saturday \u2013 a date he has been counting down to since the end of last season. He shows Mail Sport an app on his phone called \u2018Big Day\u2019, which displays the days remaining until April 26, alongside a photo of him taking a diving catch.<\/p>\n

\u2018Cricket was always my first love,\u2019 explains Martyn. \u2018I was just better at football and football then took over from 1987 to 2006. But if it\u2019s toss-up between the big game or a Test match on the telly, then the cricket is on.\u2019<\/p>\n

Martyn\u2019s enthusiasm for the sport, however, recently took a bit of a knock. Despite being a mainstay of the Knaresborough first XI for six years, the specialist gloveman has been told he will start the new season in the seconds to make way for a stronger batter – dealing a blow to his ambition of playing in the Premier League, where Yorkshire stars often turn out.<\/p>\n

\"Leeds <\/p>\n

Leeds great Nigel Martyn is starring as a wicketkeeper nearly two decades after his retirement<\/p>\n

\"Martyn, <\/p>\n

Martyn, now 58, was Leeds No1 goalkeeper for six years after joining from Crystal Palace<\/p>\n

\"Martyn <\/p>\n

Martyn has been a mainstay of the Knaresborough XI for six years but is now in the seconds<\/p>\n

\u2018I still feel a bit disappointed,\u2019 admits Martyn, who also plays for his home county Cornwall in the ECB Over 50s County Championship. \u2018For me, sport is to be played at the highest level you can get to and I wanted to experience that.<\/p>\n

\u2018But I won’t throw my toys out of pram and skulk off. I’ll be playing in the twos, keeping my standards as high as I can and be ready and available should the first team need me. I had this with England and David Seaman!\u2019<\/p>\n

Martyn took 14 catches and seven stumpings for Knaresborough last season, with a top score of 15 not out, although he mainly batted at No11. Asked for his all-time sporting highlight, he cites hitting a straight six for his old club Leeds Modernians to beat Green Lane and seal promotion to Division Two of the Airedale and Wharfedale League in 2016. \u2018The feeling that gave me was as good as anything I\u2019ve ever had in football,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n

From personal experience of playing against Martyn, he is talkative behind the stumps but does not sledge. Does he receive much chat himself? \u2018I get the occasional, \u201cYou should stick to football\u201d comment,\u2019 he says. \u2018But most people just have a laugh with you.\u2019<\/p>\n

One of his biggest laughs came a couple of seasons ago following a prank played by opponents Whitkirk. \u2018A bowler got me out and, completely unbeknown to me, his team-mates wrote a letter to him pretending to be me, saying what a good ball it was,\u2019 chuckles Martyn. \u2018Apparently he was all over it and even put the letter up in his shed!<\/p>\n

\u2018When we played them again, their lads told me what they’d done and asked if I\u2019d mind going with it. So I said to the bowler, \u201cDid you get my letter OK?\u201d. They were all in the background absolutely loving it. He was mortified he had fallen for it.\u2019<\/p>\n

Another funny moment came when Martyn shared a dressing room with his former Leeds team-mate Paul Robinson, whose son was in the Knaresborough junior set-up.<\/p>\n

\u2018We were really short one weekend and I asked him if he would help us out,\u2019 Martyn explains. \u2018Robbo used to be my boot boy when I first went to Leeds, so at the end of the game, I took my cricket shoes over to him and said, \u201cCan you get them ready for next week for me?\u201d. The lads were killing themselves!\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Cricket <\/p>\n

Cricket was Martyn’s first big love but football took over during his career from\u00a01987 to 2006<\/p>\n

\"Martyn <\/p>\n

Martyn joined members of the England cricket team during a training session back in 2017<\/p>\n

\"Martyn <\/p>\n

Martyn spent much of his England career as the second choice behind David Seaman<\/p>\n

\"Martyn <\/p>\n

Martyn won 23 caps for England and was part of four squads at major tournaments<\/p>\n


\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

Robinson ended up being the goalkeeper who ousted Martyn as Leeds\u2019 No1 after Terry Venables replaced David O\u2019Leary as boss in the summer of 2002.<\/p>\n

Martyn remembers returning exhausted from the World Cup in South Korea and Japan, where he was an unused England squad member, and being told he was expected to travel on the Whites\u2019 pre-season tour of the Far East and Australia.<\/p>\n

He informed Eddie Gray \u2013 who was taking charge of training with Venables mysteriously absent \u2013 he did not want to go. The next day, Martyn was asked to go inside to take a phone call from the manager.<\/p>\n

\u2018Terry was like, \u201cI can\u2019t have my senior players not coming on this trip. If you don\u2019t come, you\u2019ll never play for Leeds United again\u201d,\u2019 recalls Martyn. \u2018I said, \u201cTerry, the way I\u2019m feeling at the moment, I don\u2019t care\u201d. I walked out and said to the secretary, \u201cHe’s been manager for a while now, where is he?\u201d. She said, \u201cHe\u2019s just filming Wish You Were Here\u2026?\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018The next day he was in and I was training with the kids. I sat on the bench for the whole of that season before going to Everton.\u2019<\/p>\n

It was a sad end to Martyn\u2019s successful stint at Leeds, who he joined in 1996 from Palace for a then British record fee for a goalkeeper of \u00a32.25million.<\/p>\n

\u2018That team should have won something,\u2019 he insists. \u2018It\u2019s a regret. We got to a UEFA Cup and Champions League semi-final, but we were just missing that extra bit you need to get over the line.\u2019<\/p>\n

Martyn remains in touch with many of that Champions League side via a WhatsApp group set up by Dominic Matteo, which includes the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Mark Viduka, Alan Smith and Lucas Radebe. \u2018The banter is like you’ve gone back the changing room in 2001,\u2019 he says. \u2018It’s the same people saying the same thing about the same people. It\u2019s hilarious.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"He <\/p>\n

He joined Everton in 2003 after he had been ousted as Leeds goalkeeper by Paul Robinson<\/p>\n

\"Martyn <\/p>\n

Martyn remains in touch with many of Leeds side that made the Champions League last four\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Leeds <\/p>\n

Leeds lost to Valencia in the semi-finals and Martyn regrets the side did not win something<\/p>\n

\"Reclusive <\/p>\n

Reclusive former England and Leeds team-mate David Batty is not in the WhatsApp group<\/p>\n


\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

One man who is not in the group is David Batty, the reclusive former England midfielder. \u2018I roomed with Batts for a while,\u2019 says Martyn. \u2018He once said to me, \u201cI\u2019m your team-mate but I\u2019ll never be one of your friends. Once I finish football, none of you will ever see me again\u201d. And he\u2019s been good to his word!<\/p>\n

\u2018There have been some sightings of the lesser-spotted Batty out on the East Coast. But if I saw him in the street, I reckon all I\u2019d get is a nod. I don’t think he’d come over and tell me what he’s been doing for the last 20 years!\u2019<\/p>\n

In contrast, Martyn made a public appearance in the hospitality suites at Elland Road for Leeds\u2019 draw with Swansea last month and will be working the boxes again at Monday\u2019s clash against Stoke. Daniel Farke\u2019s side sit top of the Championship with three games to go after their 1-0 win over Oxford on Good Friday, five points clear of third-placed Sheffield United in the automatic promotion places.<\/p>\n

\u2018I think they\u2019ve proved they are the best team in the league,\u2019 says Martyn, whose daughter Fay is also involved in top-level sport as a physio at Harlequins, while his son Thomas is an opera singer. \u2018But it all comes down to these last games.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Illan \"Karl <\/p>\n

Illan Meslier, left, was recently dropped as Leeds No1 with Karl Darlow, right, taking the gloves<\/p>\n

\"Martyn <\/p>\n

Martyn believes Meslier needs to stand up when crowded at set pieces to remove the stigma<\/p>\n

\"Leeds <\/p>\n

Leeds closed in on a return to the top flight with a 1-0 victory over Oxford on Good Friday<\/p>\n

Leeds\u2019 biggest headache this season has been in Martyn\u2019s old role, with Farke recently dropping No1 Illan Meslier for Karl Darlow after a string of mistakes. \u2018Oppositions were just getting the ball into the box on free-kicks and corners and putting players in and around him because he has struggled in those situations,\u2019 says Martyn about the Frenchman.<\/p>\n

\u2018To get rid of that stigma, he has to stand up in those moments, be physically strong and go and catch it. When confidence is high, you\u2019ve got a good goalkeeper there. But when you make a mistake it hurts.\u2019<\/p>\n

Martyn, however, has his own form to worry about from next weekend.<\/p>\n

\u2018At 58, I expect to be diving around out there again,\u2019 he adds. \u2018My wife said to me, \u201cYou\u2019re 60 next year, how long are you going to do this for?\u201d. But I enjoy it so much, I don\u2019t ever want to stop.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While Leeds United edge closer to a top-flight return, one of their former greats has already celebrated Premier…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8814],"tags":[748,92,393,94,4884,1860,2922,93,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-34729","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leeds","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-dailymail","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-leeds","14":"tag-leeds-united","15":"tag-sport","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114368521465524231","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}