Ben is joined today by John Hartson, former professional footballer for teams including Arsenal, West Ham United and Celtic among many other prestigious clubs. Ben begins by asking John about his start in football.
After being spotted by a Luton Town scout at the age of ten in his hometown of Swansea, John spent his summers at their training camps until he was 16 and was able to sign an official youth contract with them. At 19 he was signed to Arsenal by legendary manager George Graham, and it was there he played alongside the likes of Ian Wright and Dennis Bergkamp.
After two seasons he moved on to West Ham United, where he believes he was at the peak of his physical capabilities on the pitch, but it was his time at Celtic from 2001-2006 that he describes as ‘joyous’, with 60,000 fans in attendance every week and scoring regularly.
Addiction to Gambling
While his career was going from strength to strength, John was battling a gambling addiction. It began early with fruit machines in a club he worked in as a teenager and continued in various forms until he got clean in 2011.
He explains that it’s the silent nature of the addiction that is so insidious. People can be unaware that someone they know is an addict until it’s far too late and their home is being repossessed. John now has a charity, John Hartson Recovery Workshops, that helps to educate people about gambling addiction.
Battling Cancer
The conversation finally turns to John’s battle with cancer. He had a lump on his testicle for about four years before going to the doctor as he didn’t want to interrupt his footballing career. As a result, the cancer had already progressed significantly, entering his lungs and brain. He was getting extreme headaches and sleeping a lot.
After being diagnosed, he was rushed into hospital for some intense treatment, including operations on his brain and lungs and sixty hours of chemotherapy. Thankfully, he beat the cancer. While it doesn’t go away fully, he’s at the point where he doesn’t need to be checked unless something is clearly wrong.
We finish up as always with some quick points on the similarities between business and sport. John names the best players he ever played with and against, including a shoutout for the All Things Business podcast alumni Razor Ruddock.
