Spotted in Guildford – Footballer Graeme Le Saux

Published on: 9 Oct, 2013
Updated on: 9 Oct, 2013

Spotted in Caracoli, former footballer, now a match commentator, Graeme Le Saux

Spotted today in the Caracoli coffee shop, taking a break while his wife went shopping, was former England and Chelsea footballer Graeme Le Saux.

When approached by two Guildford Dragon reporters he kindly said he was more than happy to pose for a photo and answer a few questions about his local links.

Living with his wife and two children in Cranleigh, Graeme reported they regularly come to Guildford to shop and use some of the facilities in the town. He also catches the train here for his work journeys to London.

They decide on Surrey because of the beautiful countryside, the range of amenities and the proximity to London. Previously they lived in Cobham.

Graeme is now working for the American broadcaster NBC as a game analyst alongside Lee Dixon. Recognising the growing interest in “soccer” in the States, they have started to cover all the English premiership matches.

He said: “They wanted me to call the game “soccer” as they do. But I had to put my foot down. I said I just couldn’t. I am English and it would just be artificial, it wouldn’t be me.

“Some of the linguistic differences are interesting and often amusing. Thy call a penalty a “PK”! It’s short for penalty kick. But that is just one example.”

The NBC website says: “GRAEME LE SAUX – GAME ANALYST: Le Saux will split time in the booth with Dixon working with White on NBC Sports Network’s Premier League matches. A left back and midfielder, Le Saux played 36 times for England, including the 1998 World Cup. He started his career with Chelsea in 1987, and also played with Blackburn Rovers and Southampton before retiring in 2005. He won the FA Cup in 2000 and also won a League Cup and European Cup-Winners’ Cup. Le Saux has worked for BBC as an analyst on Match of the Day 2, and as a color commentator.”

After our chat Graeme’s wife, Mariana, rejoined him. He introduced us and began to explain to her about the Guildford Dragon NEWS.

“Oh I already know,” she said, “I follow The Dragon on Twitter…. Well I like to keep up with what is going on.”

We hope Graeme takes a leaf out of his wife’s book and becomes a follower too. It was real pleasure to meet them both.