Former footballer Dwight Yorke on poker, Manchester United, and Tiger Woods
By Michelle Orpe (pokernews.com)The second day of the PartyPoker Road to Old Trafford event saw 55 players all vying for the £10,000 first-place prize. I was one of them, although only briefly before my pocket kings were cracked by {A-}{4-}. I wasn’t too upset, though, as it meant I was able to play in a celebrity sit-n-go with former football star Dwight Yorke, who sneakily tricked me into believing he had no idea how to play in his interview.
Yorke has been a professional footballer since the age of 19 when he made his debut with Aston Villa. Since then, he has played for six clubs and captained his national team of Trinidad and Tobago. He made his move to Manchester United in 1998 for a fee of £12.6 million. Yorke played a pivotal role for the club and became the top goal scorer in the 1998-1999 season as well as being a key member of the team that saw a treble win (Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League) for Manchester United in 1999.
I caught up with Yorke to find out more about the man behind the assassin's smile.
In your football career you have played at six clubs. Do you have fond memories of your time at Manchester United?
Manchester was a very happy place for me. I was very fortunate that when I came here I had the opportunity to play at the club. The manager in charge was Sir Alex Ferguson, and I played with a bunch of wonderful players. It was a great time in my career and a great time in United’s success. So I was very fortunate.
What was the highlight of your many years as a professional footballer?
I would normally say the treble-winning year, which was obviously the most outstanding year in terms of achievement. To do it with such grace and with the players and the manager and everything else to go with it, it was a very special time, but I was also very fortunate to represent my country in the World Cup in 2006 in Germany. I didn’t think anything could eclipse my treble-winning year, but playing for my country at that particular time and being the Captain, that was a really special moment.
You have also been an assistant manager for your home country Trinidad and Tabago, which must have been an honor?
Well, people say that, but I literally just helped out. I did it for maybe two or three games because they didn’t have anybody to help the poor kid that was put into the situation. Because of my experience and being around, I felt it was my duty to try and help out, but I was never officially an assistant manager.
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