Emile Heskey has admitted he slapped former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie after a fiery Birmingham derby in 2005, long before he himself played for Villa. The former England striker made the confession on the podcast In The Mixer, brought to you by Sky Bet.
Heskey's Career Journey
Heskey began his career at Leicester City before a then-record transfer to Liverpool in 2000. At Anfield, he became a regular for England and won the UEFA Cup, two League Cups, and the FA Cup. However, in 2004, he was forced to leave and signed for Birmingham City.
The Derby Incident
In March 2005, Birmingham hosted Aston Villa at St. Andrew's and won 2-0, with Heskey and Julian Gray scoring. Late in the game, tensions flared between Hendrie and Blues defender Mario Melchiot. Heskey recalled: "It went off. We won that game. It was Lee Hendrie and Mario. The Dutch can do tricks." Melchiot performed rainbow flicks in the corner, and after the final whistle, Hendrie confronted him. Heskey said: "He was giving him stick from the far corner all the way to the tunnel. I'm watching it and thinking, 'I'm getting upset.' Mario's like, 'Don't worry about it, man.'"
Heskey added: "By the time I got out of the tunnel, I slapped him (Hendrie). But I think it was [Stefan] Postma, the goalie, who grabbed me and then it all kicked off."
Forced Move from Liverpool
Heskey also revealed he wanted to stay at Liverpool for another year but was told the club had accepted a bid from Birmingham. "I spoke with Liverpool and I still had a year there," he said. "But the then-CEO [Rick Parry] came to me and said, 'We've accepted a deal from Birmingham, you can go talk to them.' I said, 'Nah, I'm fine.' He goes, 'No, we're buying [Djibril] Cisse. You can leave.' I ended up going to Birmingham and enjoyed it."
Later Move to Aston Villa
Heskey left Birmingham for Wigan in 2006, and three years later, he reunited with Martin O'Neill at Aston Villa. He said: "Coming from Leicester, there was only one club in the Midlands. That was Villa - no disrespect to anyone else. When I was playing, the two big clubs were Villa and Coventry. Going to Villa was huge. Facilities, all the coaches, the fans. A huge, huge club." Despite playing for Birmingham against Villa, he added: "No one really said anything [about swapping Blues for Villa]. Even though I'd played against Villa for Blues and we'd won!"
Listen to the full episode of In The Mixer on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
