James Rat Legged When Told About City Interest

When David James was first contacted about the possibility of joining Bristol City he had had one too many the player admitted.

The former England goalkeeper booked his place at Ashton Gate back in July after he decided to leave Portsmouth after they were relegated.

All things pointed to him joining Celtic at one time but he made fans do a double take when it hit the news that he was joining the Robins.

Speaking to the Daily Star he said: ‘I thought I would either stay with Portsmouth, move to a Premier League club or go to Scotland.

‘In between thinking about all that, there was my wedding to Amanda to organise. Somehow it all converged at a single point, the morning after my stag do.

‘I received a phone call from an unknown number. I don’t usually answer those, but I was still drunk and so I picked it up.

‘Much to my astonishment the man on the other end was Steve Coppell. He said, ‘All right Dave, I’m the Bristol City manager, and was wondering if you’d be interested in having a look at the club?’

‘If it had been anyone else, I would not have considered it, but such was my respect for Steve that Bristol City became a serious contender.’