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Steve McManaman on Euro 96, Jude, and the joy of Panini stickers.

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Panini and sticker collections are woven into the fabric of football. From swaps on the playground, to building collections with our kids. It’s an entry point to the beautiful game.

By Mike Backler

But not a lot of us get to actually be that sought after Panini sticker. Or stride out at The Bernabeu. Or glide past defenders at Wembley.

And in a world of clickbait and indignation inducing articles, I think what most of us fans really want to know is – what’s that like?

Steve McManaman knows.

McManaman, who features as a Legend in Panini’s new Official England Sticker Collection Tournament Edition 2024…

MB, for FotMob: I’ve picked three special moments that I watched and loved from your career. Moments where I’ve always thought ‘what must it be like to do that, or to live that?’ First is a goal that is etched in my memory after watching it as a 12-year-old kid. 1997, Celtic Park. What are your memories of that match and that goal?

SM: Oooh, good goal that wasn’t it, mate? I’ve got a lot of memories about it to be honest. Firstly, the stadium was off the scale, brilliant. The whole stadium singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ so you almost felt at home. We went 1-0 up with Michael Owen and I remember thinking ‘we’re gonna win easy here!’ Suddenly we were 2-1 down and getting battered and I’m thinking ‘what on earth has just happened?’ With my goal, late on, it was effectively the goal that got us through. When the player ran at me and I knocked it round him, that was just instinct, but I was so far away from the goal that you don’t think about scoring, but as I started running forward, the pitch started opening up and the Celtic players were backing off and I found myself in shooting range. I could have passed it to Karl-Heinz Reidle, but I was well on the way then! Then of course it was my left foot, just to bend it round. I always remember the fan behind the goal giving me the two fingers. I remember a lot about that goal and that game. I’ve scored a lot of good goals in the past but you do forget them. That one sticks in the memory.

MB: A couple years later and you’re in Madrid. I know a lot of people will ask you about the goal in the Champions League Final, but as someone who’s recently been to the Bernabéu for the first time and been in awe of it – what on earth is it like to walk out and play football there?

SM: The stadium is incredible. It looks even more incredible now. I played on the pitch about three weeks ago with the roof closed and it was gorgeous then and they’re still working on it. They’re gonna put a nightclub in the top corner of the stands! When you stand on the pitch for the first time I think everyone is in awe of it. The stands are upright, it’s intimidating if you’re on the opposition. As a home player, it’s amazing. I was fortunate as I scored two goals early on. I think I was top goalscorer for bleedin’ Real Madrid after a month! The most important thing was to hit the ground running and get the crowd on your side. They always give you the benefit of the doubt, certainly if you’re a new player, but if you can go and score goals and start winning games and be successful like Jude Bellingham has, it certainly helps that transition of breaking into the club. It’s a hard place to go, you need to learn the language. When I went there not a lot of people spoke English in the centre of Spain, but that’s changed now. If you can get people onside, learn, score goals and win games straight away, then you’ve got a chance. And fortunately that’s exactly what I did.

MB: Just on Jude, there’s probably no one better in world football to talk about the challenges of settling into life at Real Madrid. With what you know, does it make how well he’s done in his first season all the more remarkable?

SM: Yes. Everything you’ve just said times ten. He went to Real Madrid at 19 years of age. He went there in a transitional year when Benzema left, Hazard left, Asencio left. You expected it to be a difficult year this year. Madrid knew that. They had a pot of money and they bought Jude. The other signings were peripheral signings that didn’t cause a ripple in Madrid. Bringing in Jude, for what they paid, as a 19 year-old, everything was on his shoulders. That in itself is incredible difficult, as a 19 year-old who doesn’t speak Spanish. To replace Benzema’s goals. Madrid are ahead of schedule because of Jude. It’s next year when they’re gonna bring in a centre forward. The fact that Jude has come in and been so outstanding straight way and is a humble guy. I was speaking to Florentino Pérez, he adores him. I was speaking to José Ángel Sánchez, they love him. They’ve won the SuperCopa, they could win LaLiga if they win El Clásico. He scored the winner in the last one. He scored on his debut. All of this amounts to greatness, really. Next year when they bring in Endrick, hopefully Kylian and maybe Aphonso Davies. That’s when they’re really gonna go through the roof.

MB: From two special moments, to one special summer. Euro 96. Tell me what it was like to be such a major part of that?

SM: I’ve got really good memories about it all, mate. The fact that it was a home tournament. I remember all the games. We didn’t start particularly well but we got better as we went through. The fans were behind us. Playing Scotland helped us get the fanbase behind us. And then we played arguably some of the best football. Terry Venables was a fantastic manager, very astute. Changed formations, changed positional play. We had tactical changes to play Holland and play Spain. The sad thing was we just didn’t get over the line, but when you live with people for six weeks you forge such great friendships. Paul Gascoigne, he’s crackers as everybody knows, but I got on with him very, very well. Tony Adams, Stuart Pearce and Paul Ince – all different characters but it brought us all together. When I bump into Gareth Southgate we talk about Euro 96. It will indelibly link you together forever, really. And that’s a lovely thing.

MB: You’re probably on a decades long-list of creative midfielde talents that England have perhaps under-used or under-appreciated. Do you think that is something that we’re starting to solve, or do you still see the same issues in the current setup?

SM: I think it has been the case in recent tournaments, I must admit. We haven’t utilised our flair players more. I think our better players are our flair players, but of course I understand that you can’t play them all. You can’t have Saka, Kane, Bellingham, Foden, Grealish all out there – I understand that. But I think we could have in past tournaments, been a bit more progressive. But I’m not the England manager – that’s Gareth. But we do have superstar forwards and I hope that they are all fit and well. I personally would try and get as many of them on the pitch as possible, but I understand the job at hand. I just hope they do themselves proud, they’ve come close. They’ve got a really good squad. The players – Foden, Bellingham, Kane, they’re great players aren’t they. The climate is going to be great, the fans will be there, Germany is a fantastic country to host the tournament. They just need a bit of fortune, mate. To get it done. 

MB: Back to stickers. Did you collect them as a kid? What it’s it like to be a Legend in Panini’s Official England Sticker Collection?

SM: Very cool, mate. Very cool. I’ve got a 12 year old boy so I am doing it with him now. We collected them when we were young, swapping them in the playground and I’m doing it now with my lad. And the fact that his Dad is a legend is a bit surreal! When his Manchester United supporting mates are skitting me when they knocked Liverpool out of The FA Cup are suddenly collecting my card. When I was a kid I was an Everton fan and if you ever got the badge, it was the pinnacle of everything. The picture of the ground. We’d get stickers for a present instead of an Easter Egg. I’m living it now through the eyes of my boy and I’ll try and get him a few stickers without trying to spoil him of course. It’s lovely isn’t it, in the playground swapping ten players for one good, that’s all part and parcel of the game. I sign a lot of old stickers of myself now and some of them are awful. Some I look like I’ve got no neck, some where my hair’s all over the place, or little buck teeth. I think the first one I’ve seen was in the old Candy Liverpool kit, where I look really, really young. And they’re the days you pine for.

The Official England Sticker Collection Tournament Edition 2024, with 100% official kits and 387 stickers to collect, is available now at panini.co.uk/englandstickers and retailers nationwide.

Steve McManaman on Euro 96, Jude, and the joy of Panini stickers.

Panini and sticker collections are woven into the fabric of football. From swaps on the playground, to building collections with our kids. It’s an entry point to the beautiful game.

By Mike Backler

But not a lot of us get to actually be that sought after Panini sticker. Or stride out at The Bernabeu. Or glide past defenders at Wembley.

And in a world of clickbait and indignation inducing articles, I think what most of us fans really want to know is – what’s that like?

Steve McManaman knows.

McManaman, who features as a Legend in Panini’s new Official England Sticker Collection Tournament Edition 2024…

MB, for FotMob: I’ve picked three special moments that I watched and loved from your career. Moments where I’ve always thought ‘what must it be like to do that, or to live that?’ First is a goal that is etched in my memory after watching it as a 12-year-old kid. 1997, Celtic Park. What are your memories of that match and that goal?

SM: Oooh, good goal that wasn’t it, mate? I’ve got a lot of memories about it to be honest. Firstly, the stadium was off the scale, brilliant. The whole stadium singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ so you almost felt at home. We went 1-0 up with Michael Owen and I remember thinking ‘we’re gonna win easy here!’ Suddenly we were 2-1 down and getting battered and I’m thinking ‘what on earth has just happened?’ With my goal, late on, it was effectively the goal that got us through. When the player ran at me and I knocked it round him, that was just instinct, but I was so far away from the goal that you don’t think about scoring, but as I started running forward, the pitch started opening up and the Celtic players were backing off and I found myself in shooting range. I could have passed it to Karl-Heinz Reidle, but I was well on the way then! Then of course it was my left foot, just to bend it round. I always remember the fan behind the goal giving me the two fingers. I remember a lot about that goal and that game. I’ve scored a lot of good goals in the past but you do forget them. That one sticks in the memory.

MB: A couple years later and you’re in Madrid. I know a lot of people will ask you about the goal in the Champions League Final, but as someone who’s recently been to the Bernabéu for the first time and been in awe of it – what on earth is it like to walk out and play football there?

SM: The stadium is incredible. It looks even more incredible now. I played on the pitch about three weeks ago with the roof closed and it was gorgeous then and they’re still working on it. They’re gonna put a nightclub in the top corner of the stands! When you stand on the pitch for the first time I think everyone is in awe of it. The stands are upright, it’s intimidating if you’re on the opposition. As a home player, it’s amazing. I was fortunate as I scored two goals early on. I think I was top goalscorer for bleedin’ Real Madrid after a month! The most important thing was to hit the ground running and get the crowd on your side. They always give you the benefit of the doubt, certainly if you’re a new player, but if you can go and score goals and start winning games and be successful like Jude Bellingham has, it certainly helps that transition of breaking into the club. It’s a hard place to go, you need to learn the language. When I went there not a lot of people spoke English in the centre of Spain, but that’s changed now. If you can get people onside, learn, score goals and win games straight away, then you’ve got a chance. And fortunately that’s exactly what I did.

MB: Just on Jude, there’s probably no one better in world football to talk about the challenges of settling into life at Real Madrid. With what you know, does it make how well he’s done in his first season all the more remarkable?

SM: Yes. Everything you’ve just said times ten. He went to Real Madrid at 19 years of age. He went there in a transitional year when Benzema left, Hazard left, Asencio left. You expected it to be a difficult year this year. Madrid knew that. They had a pot of money and they bought Jude. The other signings were peripheral signings that didn’t cause a ripple in Madrid. Bringing in Jude, for what they paid, as a 19 year-old, everything was on his shoulders. That in itself is incredible difficult, as a 19 year-old who doesn’t speak Spanish. To replace Benzema’s goals. Madrid are ahead of schedule because of Jude. It’s next year when they’re gonna bring in a centre forward. The fact that Jude has come in and been so outstanding straight way and is a humble guy. I was speaking to Florentino Pérez, he adores him. I was speaking to José Ángel Sánchez, they love him. They’ve won the SuperCopa, they could win LaLiga if they win El Clásico. He scored the winner in the last one. He scored on his debut. All of this amounts to greatness, really. Next year when they bring in Endrick, hopefully Kylian and maybe Aphonso Davies. That’s when they’re really gonna go through the roof.

MB: From two special moments, to one special summer. Euro 96. Tell me what it was like to be such a major part of that?

SM: I’ve got really good memories about it all, mate. The fact that it was a home tournament. I remember all the games. We didn’t start particularly well but we got better as we went through. The fans were behind us. Playing Scotland helped us get the fanbase behind us. And then we played arguably some of the best football. Terry Venables was a fantastic manager, very astute. Changed formations, changed positional play. We had tactical changes to play Holland and play Spain. The sad thing was we just didn’t get over the line, but when you live with people for six weeks you forge such great friendships. Paul Gascoigne, he’s crackers as everybody knows, but I got on with him very, very well. Tony Adams, Stuart Pearce and Paul Ince – all different characters but it brought us all together. When I bump into Gareth Southgate we talk about Euro 96. It will indelibly link you together forever, really. And that’s a lovely thing.

MB: You’re probably on a decades long-list of creative midfielde talents that England have perhaps under-used or under-appreciated. Do you think that is something that we’re starting to solve, or do you still see the same issues in the current setup?

SM: I think it has been the case in recent tournaments, I must admit. We haven’t utilised our flair players more. I think our better players are our flair players, but of course I understand that you can’t play them all. You can’t have Saka, Kane, Bellingham, Foden, Grealish all out there – I understand that. But I think we could have in past tournaments, been a bit more progressive. But I’m not the England manager – that’s Gareth. But we do have superstar forwards and I hope that they are all fit and well. I personally would try and get as many of them on the pitch as possible, but I understand the job at hand. I just hope they do themselves proud, they’ve come close. They’ve got a really good squad. The players – Foden, Bellingham, Kane, they’re great players aren’t they. The climate is going to be great, the fans will be there, Germany is a fantastic country to host the tournament. They just need a bit of fortune, mate. To get it done. 

MB: Back to stickers. Did you collect them as a kid? What it’s it like to be a Legend in Panini’s Official England Sticker Collection?

SM: Very cool, mate. Very cool. I’ve got a 12 year old boy so I am doing it with him now. We collected them when we were young, swapping them in the playground and I’m doing it now with my lad. And the fact that his Dad is a legend is a bit surreal! When his Manchester United supporting mates are skitting me when they knocked Liverpool out of The FA Cup are suddenly collecting my card. When I was a kid I was an Everton fan and if you ever got the badge, it was the pinnacle of everything. The picture of the ground. We’d get stickers for a present instead of an Easter Egg. I’m living it now through the eyes of my boy and I’ll try and get him a few stickers without trying to spoil him of course. It’s lovely isn’t it, in the playground swapping ten players for one good, that’s all part and parcel of the game. I sign a lot of old stickers of myself now and some of them are awful. Some I look like I’ve got no neck, some where my hair’s all over the place, or little buck teeth. I think the first one I’ve seen was in the old Candy Liverpool kit, where I look really, really young. And they’re the days you pine for.

The Official England Sticker Collection Tournament Edition 2024, with 100% official kits and 387 stickers to collect, is available now at panini.co.uk/englandstickers and retailers nationwide.