Coffee Break with former Newcastle and England footballer Rob Lee

Introducing footballer Rob Lee

Rob Lee made over 700 appearances playing for Premier League football clubs such as Newcastle, West Ham, Derby and Charlton during an impressive 23-year career.

The 55-year-old captained Newcastle, whom he made 382 appearances for across a 10-year spell, and also won 21 England caps.

Lee has spoken to Coffee Friend about his love for coffee having warmed to it since his retirement from football in 2006.

Meanwhile, he has also given the lowdown on this year’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! star David Ginola, who he played alongside at Newcastle as well as his hopes for the Magpies under their new Saudi owners.

What is your ‘relationship’ with coffee, and was coffee, as a drink, popular among your Newcastle teammates?

“When I was a player, I didn’t drink loads of coffee, I drank a lot of tea. Since I’ve retired, I’ve started drinking coffee. I’ve been drinking for quite a while and a cappuccino has always been my drink. It’s either a white coffee or if I’m out I’ll always get a cappuccino. 

“I’ll probably have at least one a day. When I was driving home from Newcastle yesterday, it’s a long drive and I was tired, so I stopped off to get a cappuccino for the trip home and it did wake me up.“

“When I was playing, the foreign players like David Ginola and Philippe Albert, they liked their coffee. Ginola liked his coffee and a cigarette! They’d order black coffees, a lot of players liked black coffee for weight reasons.”

One of your teammates, David Ginola, participates in this year’s reality show “I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!”. What do you think about it?

“He’s always had charisma. He’s a good-looking guy. As we’ve seen recently, he’s had his top off and he’s built like a brickhouse. He still looks after himself. He always draws attention to himself. It’s quite funny because it’s not just women, it’s guys as well. 

“You can see a few of the guys inside the castle are looking at him. When he first came to Newcastle, he wasn’t your typical football player, he had contracts with L’Oreal and he was built like he is now. He looked like a male model rather than a footballer. He always got attention wherever he went. He was a good guy, too.”

“I certainly think he’ll be in the top three. I like Simon Gregson, he’s very good. He takes the mickey out of himself, I like people that can do that. When David had his top off, I certainly wouldn’t be getting my top off next to him, but Simon did. 

“I like people like that, he seems very genuine, so he’ll be up there. I like Danny Miller as well. David’s got some competition, but there’s no reason why he can’t [win it]. A lot of people like him, he’s a likeable guy.”

How do you think with which players Newcastle club should sign the contracts during the January transfer window?

“I would say Kieran Trippier, James Tarkowski and Jesse Lingard. Lingard would score goals, it’s what Newcastle need. West Ham are probably desperate to get him back, he was unbelievable for them last season. He’s got energy, he gets around the pitch and he’ll get on the end of things and score goals.

“Tarkowski, he’s been in England squads, he’s a good defensive player, strong, quick and a bit of a leader. I’ve always liked Trippier too. They’re the players you could get and they’d want to come to Newcastle. That’s important. 

“We don’t want players coming to Newcastle just for the money, but players who want to play for this club and play for these fans. If we get those types of players in, we’ll be okay.”