Robbie Savage

Early career

Born in Wrexham, Savage started his playing career with local sides Brickfield Rangers and Lex XI. When he finished school, he joined Manchester United as a trainee and originally played as a striker. He played in the FA Youth Cup winning team of 1992, and was later given a professional contract, but never played a first-team game for the club and signed for Crewe Alexandra in 1994. He switched into midfield early in his time at Crewe and proved himself as a competent young player, helping them reach the Division Two play-offs in his first two seasons at the club; a remarkable feat for a newly promoted club who had only played at this level twice in the previous 30 years. Crewe then made it third time lucky by sealing promotion via the play-offs in 1997. It was the first time that Crewe had reached the second tier of the English football league system, but shortly after helping Crewe win promotion, Savage handed in a transfer request to manager Dario Gradi.

Leicester City

Savage was transferred to Premier League side Leicester City managed by Martin O'Neill, for a fee of £400,000, in July 1997. Savage spent five years at Leicester, where he made his name as a reliable, competitive and fiery midfielder. In 1999, Leicester reached the League Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur. In a controversial incident, Savage made a poor tackle on Tottenham's Justin Edinburgh who retaliated by swinging his arm out. Contact was minimal, but Savage fell to the…

Savage played at under-18 and under-21 level for Wales before making his senior international debut in 1995 against Albania while at Crewe. Savage attained 39 caps, scoring two goals, both in World Cup qualifying against Turkey and Norway, before retiring from international football in September 2005, saying he wished to concentrate on his club career. However, many people believe the reason he quit was due to a spat with Wales manager John Toshack. Savage did give the explanation that "John Toshack said it was my way or the highway – well I'm on the M56." On 6 March 2006, he appeared on Welsh radio, partaking in a debate with pundit Leighton James over his exclusion from the Wales squad. Early in his international career he clashed with former Wales manager Bobby Gould when he jokingly threw a replica of Paolo Maldini's shirt into a disposal bin before a match against Italy. Savage was initially dropped by Gould from the squad only to be reinstated the next day.

Savage's style as a midfield player was all-action and energetic, and he regularly collected yellow cards, and for a while held the dubious distinction of being awarded the most yellow cards of any Premiership player in the league's history – 89, although he has now been overtaken by Lee Bowyer, Kevin Davies, Paul Scholes, Scott Parker, Wayne Rooney and Gareth Barry. Fans of Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Arsenal have accused him of simulation, whether to win a set piece or to get an opponent red carded. During a match against Newcastle United in August 2003, the referee Matt Messias swung his arm out and accidentally hit Savage in the face as Savage was running behind him. On 17 January 2010, whilst commentating for BBC Radio 5 Live's coverage of a Premier League match between Aston Villa and West Ham United at Villa Park, a clearance by Villa midfielder Stiliyan Petrov hit Savage in the face causing some minor bleeding to the nose. Savage was, however, only sent off twice in his career: once during an international game for the Welsh national team, and once during a Premier League game for Blackburn. He received his first-ever red card when he was sent off in Wales' World Cup qualification match against Northern Ireland in September 2004 for reacting to a foul on him by midfielder Michael Hughes. Both Hughes and Savage were sent off, but, on later review, the punishment of Savage seemed harsh to some. Savage was ridiculed for threatening to appeal to…

Savage occasionally acted as a pundit during his club career, and started working in the media more regularly in the 2009–10 season. He worked in a number of different punditry roles during the 2010 FIFA World Cup before joining the presenting team for BBC Radio 5 Live's 6-0-6 show. In September 2010, Savage signed up as official sporting ambassador for bookmakers William Hill. In May 2011 he was awarded the Sony Radio Academy Rising Star Award, as well as winning an award from the Plain English Campaign. Between 2009 and 2013, Savage was a pundit on ESPN, and has since moved to TNT Sports. Since retiring from football in May 2011, Savage has attempted to become a more prominent broadcasting figure beyond punditry. From September 2011 Savage took part in the 2011 series of Strictly Come Dancing, partnering Ola Jordan. The show broadcast on 22 October saw Savage perform a dramatic knee-slide towards the camera, which resulted in a broken nose. Savage and Jordan were eliminated from the competition in the quarterfinal on 4 December 2011, placing sixth. In October 2012, along with 463 other players, Savage took part in BBC Radio 5 Live's attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for the 'most players in a continuous 5 a side exhibition match'. This was for BBC Children in Need along with comedian Lloyd Langford and BBC Radio 5 Live travel reporter Lindsey Chapman. Along with Ex-England cricketer Andrew Flintoff, Savage is part of a BBC Radio 5 Live podcast called Flintoff,…