Bernie Slaven

Early career

Bernie Slaven was born on 13 November 1960 in Paisley, Renfrewshire but grew up in the Castlemilk area of Glasgow. An only child, his father, Hugh, was a delivery driver for the Co-op and his mother, Alice, was a tailor. He joined Partick Thistle Amateurs at 14 and played at left-half. He went on to play for Eastercraigs and again played left-half as their centre-forward was future Everton player Graeme Sharp. At the age of 18, Slaven rejected an approach from Scottish Second Division club East Stirlingshire and instead joined junior league side Johnstone Burgh. However, he soon became disillusioned with the long train journeys to Johnstone and stopped attending the club. After his contract with Johnstone Burgh ended he joined local club Rutherglen Glencairn. During his time as an amateur footballer he worked for the Co-op, before spending some time unemployed. He was transferred to Greenock Morton in November 1980 for a fee of £750 but remained with Rutherglen Glencairn for the rest of the season. He made his debut for Morton as a second-half substitute in a 3–0 win over Airdrieonians in October 1981. He made his first start against Celtic at Cappielow and had a goal disallowed during the game, which ended in a 1–1 draw. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw with Airdrieonians, which was the only goal of his 13 Scottish Premier Division appearances in the 1981–82 season. He soon fell out with manager Benny Rooney after demanding more game…

Slaven was born in Scotland, but qualified for Republic of Ireland through his Irish grandfather. He made the decision to represent Ireland after being consistently overlooked for the Scotland team by manager Andy Roxburgh, and stated that: "if I'd been scoring for Celtic or Rangers I'd have walked into the side, there are people getting in the team that can hardly play the game". After calling Slaven up in 1990, Ireland manager Jack Charlton said that "Bernie is the type of player who could benefit from Cascarino's knock downs... we have been looking for a player like Bernie for quite a while now". He made his international debut in a friendly on 28 March 1990, and scored the only goal of the game against Wales from a rebound after Kevin Sheedy had a penalty saved by Neville Southall. He won a second cap as a substitute against Finland on 16 May, before he was named in the Ireland squad for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. Slaven did not feature in the tournament however, and suffered from homesickness. Tony Cascarino claimed in his autobiography that Slaven would telephone his dog every night when away from home with the squad: "... Bernie would be howling like Lassie into the phone 'Woof, woof, aru, aru, woof!' He'd be kissing the receiver and lavishing affection – 'Hello, lovey dovey' – on a dog!" A church-going Catholic, Slaven stated that the highlight of the tournament was the day when the squad met Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. He won the last of his seven caps on 17…

Slaven was a forward who scored many goals due to his excellent first touch, anticipation and finishing skills. He was criticised for his defending and heading skills, as well as his habit of frequently standing in an offside position. His customary goal celebration was to jump up on the fence at the Holgate End at Boro's old ground, Ayresome Park. When the ground was knocked down in 1996, Slaven acquired a section of the fence from the Holgate End and displayed it in his back garden for some years.

Slaven was granted a testimonial match by Middlesbrough against Hereford United at the Riverside Stadium in 1996, but was embarrassed by a low turnout of 3,537. He went into radio after retiring as a player, and co-hosted Century FM's coverage of Middlesbrough matches with Ali Brownlee from 1996 to 2007. Brownlee tended to be positive and optimistic about Middlesbrough, whereas Slaven would be more critical and realistic. The pair also presented shows for NTL's "Boro TV" channel from 1997 until Slaven was sacked in December 2002 after he missed a filming session in protest at the company's habit of failing to pay wages on time. In 1999, Slaven bared his buttocks in Binns department store window in Middlesbrough after telling Brownlee on Century FM that if Middlesbrough beat Manchester United at Old Trafford, he would perform the dare. Middlesbrough ran out 3–2 winners, so Slaven had to go ahead with the dare, with the score painted on his cheeks. He went on to recreate the moment on television for They Think It's All Over's "Feel The Sportsman" round. He announced his intention to stand for the newly created post of Mayor of Middlesbrough in October 2002, but withdrew from the race before the election as his candidacy was a publicity stunt for Century FM rather than a serious attempt to enter politics. He went on to present Legends Football Phone-In for Real Radio North East and later Koast Radio from 200 to 2014, alongside him were Malcolm Macdonald and Eric Gates who was…