MH: Hi Dom, we're here at Elland Road today promoting Leeds Zone - tell us about that.
DM: I'm working at Sporting Bet and they're trying to give fans an insight into the real Leeds United so they get to come into the dressing room and stuff - opportunities you don't normally get as a fan. It's great for me to come down and meet the proper fans, show them around, and share my experiences and a few stories. You get a bit of adulation here, which is great.
MH: Yeah, I notice you were referred to as a Leeds United legend on the official site. Any chance of a statue next to Billy Bremner?
DM: Haha no, nothing like that, but I had a really good rapport with the fans when I was here and I think I still do. I come to a lot of the games and work in and around the club, and Sportingbet have given me the opportunity to work with Leeds United again, which is great.
MH: It's not just the club that you've taken to your heart - you've got a bar (Rock Bar on Call Lane) in the city centre now as well?
DM: I have indeed. It's not what I want to be doing for the rest of my life but it's a good stop gap. I was in the bar on Saturday night actually pulling pints so I'm pretty hands on.
I'd love to get back into football, though. I'm not sure what my way back in would be, but obviously working with Sportingbet has given me an opportunity to get back into working with a club.
MH: It was a bit of a sad end for you at Stoke?
DM: Yeah. I'd been struggling with my back for a long time and having injections in my back, in my knee, in my feet, to play games and it wasn't how I saw my career finishing. I was having two injections in my foot before a game, it was getting to a joke, and even the other lads were saying 'Dom, you're putting your body through too much here'. In the end something had to give and it was my back that went.
MH: Looking back, do you think you were finished as a player when you joined Stoke?
DM: Yeah. Tony (Pulis) got me there for a bit of experience and basically said 'get the dressing room right, get a good team spirit going, we've got some good players and if we can get the dressing room right - and we'll make you captain - we'll see where we go from there.'
The way my career ended was a bit sad, though, because Tony had me coaching for the last bit of it. My injuries were bad and Tony was trying to get me down that road although he was probably trying to get someone off the wage bill too because I was earning good money and he maybe wanted to bring in a player that was younger and a lot fitter. So I had to accept that.
I just couldn't train. I was going swimming every day. I'm a footballer and just wanted to play football. But my body just wouldn't let me. Maybe that was my lifestyle over the years; I've always liked a few bevvies and I've been honest about that.
MH: Why did you stop coaching at Stoke then?
DM: It was just my body. The coaching I do is hands on and showing people what I expect and what I want to do but it got to the stage where I couldn't run or even move because my back was that bad. I couldn't even put my shoes on, I was having to have help with the basics. I couldn't pick my kids up and I was like that for about a year and a half.
I'm getting back into some kind of physical condition now, though, I'm back in the gym and I want to get back into coaching. I think I've got something to offer.
MH: Do you think all the drinking affected your career in the end then? DM: Definitely but at the time you don't think about what will happen to you.
At the end of my career I didn't like what I was doing to myself and it was probably affecting the way I played because I wasn't fit. It's hard enough to play a game being fit but I think I played half of my career injured. I can't remember one game when I went out there and thought 'I feel good today'. I know there must be players that feel like that but I never felt good before a game.
MH: And how many times did you turn up for training a bit worse for wear?
DM: I'd turn up now and again after a few beers, if not more, but it was normal back in those days because there was a drink culture in the game. If you didn't go the pub with the players you weren't part of the dressing room and that's just how it was.
MH: It must have been like a dream world for you back then at Liverpool?
DM: It was. You're more in the limelight now but back then we could go into any pub in Liverpool and have a pint like a normal person. You lived your life a lot more normally and I liked it better back then because I could go about my work and do what I want. Players now don't have as much privacy as we had.
MH: Leaving must have really hurt?
DM: It was a weird one. I signed a new five-year contract on the Monday and I left on the Thursday for Leeds.
I'd been negotiating my contract for quite a while because the season before was probably my best season.
I honestly thought I'd play the rest of my career at Liverpool but they bought in Christian Ziege which I didn't think was the right decision. He was obviously a bit more high-profile and that's why it happened but I think it might have been a mistake. They paid a lot of money for Ziege and I don't think he had the best Liverpool career, let's put it that way. He was a very good player that played a lot of games for his country but I think they should have kept me.
MH: And how did you feel about the move to Leeds?
DM: Being at Liverpool is like being at Manchester United - where do you go next? But I actually found a place that was what I wanted, we had a great dressing room and a good team - and Leeds had finished above Liverpool in the previous season and made the Champions League so it was a chance for me to play in that too.
MH: Talking of the Champions League, who can forget 'that' goal at AC Milan?
It was a great night all round, even going back to the hotel afterwards. We stayed at Lake Como and it was absolutely amazing. All the boys, a few glasses of wine, fans all over the place, it was just one of those special nights.
We used to get private jets everywhere with Leeds back then. It's only two hours to Italy or Spain so you can just get on a normal plane but I think at the time because the club was flying we wanted to let the lads have that bit of extra luxury. Although it was all the directors up the front drinking the champagne while we were at the back cramped in.
MH: No doubt all of this will be in your autobiography. There must be a few tales?
DM: Yeah there is. It's been difficult, very emotional, because I've been very tough on myself all the way through. I can't read it without crying because it's your life on a piece of paper. It was emotional because it's made me realise I made a lot of mistakes.
It took me nine months and now the real hard work starts for me to promote it around the country. I'm going to get to as many Leeds United supporters' clubs around the country, even a few abroad, to do some signings and just meet the fans.
MH: Cheers Dom, good luck with it. Now to finish, a quick 10 questions on some of your old team-mates and opponents. First up, who were the best and worst trainers you worked with?
The best trainer certainly wasn't me! When I first come here to Leeds I was surprised by how good Lee Bowyer was and how hard he worked. Paul Ince was the worst.
MH: And the biggest moaner?
DM: Me probably. Rio (Ferdinand) was a moaner, but in a good way. I don't mind it. Some people moan for moanings sake but he moaned for a reason.
MH: Hardest team-mate?
DM: That's a difficult one to choose between Razor (Neil Ruddock) and Batts (David Batty) You definitely wouldn't want to fight Razor!
MH: And the biggest girl's blouse?
DM: Robbie Savage probably. He will tell you he was a hard man. He was a good player but I don't think he was particularly hard. Just because you get booked doesn't mean you're a hard player. The good hard players don't normally get booked because it's usually a fair challenge.
MH: Least skilful team-mate?
DM: This is a tough one as well Torben Piechnik at Liverpool probably.
MH: What was the best prank you ever played or had played on you?
DM: There were a lot and I probably couldn't go into detail on most of them but one day I had my car filled up with grass cuttings from top to bottom. It was an Aston Martin and I'd just got it. Gutting!
We also bought rabbits in one day here at Leeds and let them loose. Batts took them home for his kids after.
MH: Who were the best fans you played in front of?
DM: The fans at Stoke fantastic, it is probably the noisest ground in the country. It seems like everyone is a bit bonkers. Everyone sings. It's not like at Liverpool where it's just the Kop - all four stands get involved. Obviously Liverpool for me was special and the old Kop especially was always very noisy.
MH: Who was your favourite team-mate?
DM: Razor was my best mate but I'd say Rio as well because we really knew each other's game inside out.
MH: And which opponent did you most hate?
DM: It's got to be Gary Neville with my Liverpool connections and what he's said about them. I've heard a lot of stories about things he's said to people on the pitch too but I don't really know him personally.
Dominic Matteo was speaking at the launch of the Sportingbet Leeds Zone. www.leedszone.com gives fans the opportunity to get closer to the club they love through exclusive prizes from the clubs Official Betting Partner, Sportingbet.
Source: Team Talk
Source: Team Talk