Tim Cahill - Legacy - The Autobiography of Tim Cahill

HarperSport

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London W6 8JB www.harpercollins.co.ukFirst published by HarperCollins Publishers 2015 FIRST EDITION © Tim Cahill 2015 A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library Front cover image by Adrian Cook Back cover image: The Under-8s Balmain PCYC team in 1986, with Tim at right of the goalkeeper (courtesy Fairfax Syndication/Balmain Police Citizens Youth Club) While every effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright material reproduced herein and secure permissions, the publishers would like to apologise for any omissions and will be pleased to incorporate missing acknowledgements in any future edition of this book. Tim Cahill asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books. Find out about HarperCollins and the environment at www.harpercollins.co.uk/greenSource ISBN: 978-00-081441-73 Ebook Edition © November 2015 ISBN: 9780008144180 Version: 2015-11-06

In memory of Faataualofa TuatoBorn 3 April 1932, died 27 May 2005

The backbone of our family

The strongest person in my life, along with my mother Sisifo Tuato Cahill

Taught me everything about my culture, heritage and beliefs

And the most important lesson of all: family over everything

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

Nelson Mandela

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Foreword by David Moyes

Part 01: Beginning the Dream

Fearless

Reaching Higher

Golden Bicycles and Olympic Dreams

Lessons from Samoa

Beating the Odds

Part 02: No One Likes Us, We Don’t Care

Sacrifices

England

The Lion’s Den

Samoan Fire

Down But Never Out

The Cup Run

The Call-up

Part 03: Once a Blue, Always a Blue

Everton

Gladiators

One City, Two Colours

The Boys in Blue

Making History

All Good Things

Rolling Back the Years

Part 04: Glory

America

Brazil and Beyond

Green and Gold

New Horizons

Legacy

Acknowledgments

Plate Section

About the Publisher

I’LL NEVER FORGET THE DAY I decided to sign Tim Cahill. Not simply because I was sure I’d spotted a fantastic raw talent. It was quite a day all round. It was 2 May 2002. In my last season in charge of Preston we’d been searching around for players of ability and seen Millwall a couple of times. This energetic, pugnacious Aussie in midfield stood out.

My first transfer market as Everton manager was about to open and, having seen Tim about the championship a couple of times, I persuaded chairman Bill Kenwright that we should go together to watch Millwall against Birmingham in the second leg of the play-off semi-final. I mentioned to Bill that we’d be looking at a couple of guys, including Steven Reid, but, privately, my main attention was going to be on this Aussie fella.

Bill picked me up in his old Jag and we drove down to the New Den in South London. I’ve seen some atmospheres in my time as a player and coach, but this was fearsome, let me tell you. Tight streets, low bridges, both sets of fans with a reputation for being a bit feisty; in fact, there was horrible rioting and fighting associated with this tie, and as we drove past the supporters in this elegant old motor they were thumping and banging on the roof and the windows. We had to want to be there.

Millwall lost 0–1 in the last seconds and thus missed the chance of going to the final in Cardiff. Tim hit the bar with one of what would become his trademark headers with Everton. Immediately after the game, as we drove north, I told Bill that we had to have this guy. What stood out to the naked eye was that he was tremendously effective in both boxes: defensively able and usually the first to head clear, but also with the hunger, ambition and engine to be up in the opposition penalty area quickly afterwards looking to do danger.

Right then, he brought to mind a guy I’d always admired—John Wark. John would often outscore the strikers at his club because he had this fantastic ability to time when he arrived in and around the box and the means to finish the physical work he’d put in to get there. I was sure that this Cahill fella was one from that production line.

When we finally got him to our offices for a meeting with me and the chairman something else happened. His personality knocked our socks off. Not only was I very impressed by this guy in whom I was about to invest a lot of faith and a lot of hope, but Bill was bowled over too. What oozed out of him was not only resolute self-belief but great character. To this day Tim has the ability to charm people, to make them like him or believe in him. In truth, he’s a very likeable guy who conducts himself well.

This won’t surprise you, but I’d mark him down as easily one of the two or three players who most helped me change Everton, one of the best signings I’ve ever made. He’s seen, I think, as a major Premier League footballer, but the fact that he came from the lower leagues to the very top and not only managed to bridge that gap with considerable ease but also help rebuild the fortunes and reputation of a leading Premier club is a terrific testimony to his personal and footballing talents.

Beyond his immense character, I’d pinpoint two things about Tim. Obviously the first is his world-class aerial ability. He’s among the best ever. But we’ll come back to that. The other is that he has this great tendency to “appear” when he’s most needed. Big games where a win is vital, a match where things are going against you, a draw turned into a single-goal win—Tim was the fella you’d always count on. Any manager—more importantly, any fan—will tell you that they treasure a player like that. Priceless.