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Jimmy Bullard’s colourful career from pranking England manager to Soccer AM antics
Former Premier League star Jimmy Bullard is set to host Soccer AM for the final time on Saturday, with the weekend show set to leave the air at the end of the season
The final episode of Soccer AM will also mark the end of an era for Jimmy Bullard, who is set to move onto the next phase of his broadcasting career.
Bullard began hosting the Saturday morning show back in 2017. However, it was announced earlier in the season that the show will be coming to an end after nearly 30 years on the air.
Before taking over as host, Bullard had an eventful football career featuring an impressive rise from non-league to the Premier League and a call-up to the senior England squad. Here, Mirror Football takes a look back at some of his most memorable moments.
Bullard’s start wasn’t the most conventional by Premier League standards. He worked his way up through non-league football before earning a move to Premier League side West Ham during Harry Redknapp’s time in charge. He left the Hammers without playing a senior minute, though, forcing him to look for a new club at the age of 22.
The midfielder would later tell FourFourTwo (via HITC ) he was “gutted” at being let go, though competition for places was tough with the likes of Joe Cole and Michael Carrick coming through the ranks. “I had a lot of mates there and felt I could have held my own in the first team, but I don’t think holding your own was enough for Harry – he wanted someone who was going to set up two goals a game,” he said.
“We left on great terms. I said: ‘I’ll prove you wrong one day, Harry,’ and he said: ‘I hope you do, Jim. Good luck.’ And away I went to Peterborough.”
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Rising to the top
It would be four more years before Bullard finally got his top-flight bow. An impressive 18 months with Peterborough earned him a move to Wigan, where he was part of a squad which earned two promotions in three years under Paul Jewell.
The Latics held their own in the Premier League, too, as well as reaching the League Cup final in 2006. Just one Premier League season was enough to earn Bullard a seven-figure move to Fulham, and even a serious knee injury wasn’t enough to fully derail his time in West London.
After missing most of the 2006-07 season, his form upon returning caused England manager Fabio Capello to take notice. However, never one to give bosses more reverence than was necessary, the East Ham-born star joined international colleague David Bentley in pranking the Three Lions boss.
Postman prank
Speaking to Golf Life (via The Star ) in 2021, Bentley recalled how he and Bullard started the ‘Postman Pat’ nickname for the Italian. “He did look like him, didn’t he?” he said.
“It was just classic, and then it became a thing, he couldn’t speak English, could he? So we’d be going ‘alright Postman Pat? How’s your black cat?’
“We’re in team meetings and you get all the lads going, [getting progressively louder] ‘Postman Pat’.”
Bullard earned three call-ups to the senior England squad, all during Capello’s time in charge. He never made it onto the pitch, though he was on the bench for a 2008 friendly win against Germany.
To Hull and back
Bullard’s next move came in January 2009, with Hull paying a club record £5m. At the time, the Tigers were looking to build on an eventful first few months in the Premier League which featured wins over Arsenal and Spurs as well as a notorious on-pitch team talk from manager Phil Brown during a Boxing Day loss at Manchester City.
Unfortunately, a familiar story soon reared its head. Another serious knee injury meant more months on the sidelines, though he was still able to retain an air of enthusiasm and a refusal to take things too seriously when he returned to the fold.
“You’d love to manage him,” Brown told reporters in October 2009. “He’s perfect, he’s a dreamer. He wants to be the best player on the field of play every day.
“It would energise anybody, not just the manager. If I was a player it would energise me because his enthusiasm is faultless.
“It’s fantastic, he’s always got a smile on his face. There is a natural enthusiasm where Jimmy is concerned that will stand football in good stead and hopefully Hull City in the near future.”
When Hull played Man City in the 2009-10 season, we got a perfect example. After scoring from the spot, Bullard mimicked Brown’s infamous team-talk against the same opponents, sitting his team-mates down on the turf, and his manager couldn’t help but be amused.
“I didn’t see it at first because I was trying to organise a five-man midfield to secure the point, so I had no idea what he was doing,” the manager said “My analysis guy showed it to me on the laptop as soon as I got in the dressing room and I couldn’t deliver my talk to the players after the game because I was laughing so much.”
An early conclusion
Unfortunately for Hull, even a returning Bullard wasn’t able to save them from the drop. A reunion with Jewell at Ipswich followed a few months later, and there were flashes of quality, but injuries continued to take their toll.
Bullard ended his career with a short stint at MK Dons, but called it a day aged 33. Upon announcing his decision, it was clear that the knee problems had never really gone away.
“I want to be out there playing but at the same time I know my knee won’t allow me to play at my best and to keep my place in the team,” he said. “I’m hindering myself more than I am helping myself for the future.”
A brief foray into management followed with Leatherhead, but it felt as though Bullard was destined to be in front of the camera. So it proved, with the Soccer AM opportunity presenting itself just a year after his time in charge of the non-league side.
Saturday morning star
There have been plenty of highlights during Bullard’s Soccer AM tenure, and one of them came earlier this season in the show’s Volley Challenge.
After Rotherham fans set the Soccer AM team a target of five, Bullard scored with one of his first two attempts. However, the third was scuppered by a team-mate getting in the way. His reaction had an air of the Phil Browns about it – a combination of encouragement and fury, but done with a hint of a smile.
It’s the kind of moment fans of Soccer AM will miss when the show comes off the air, and Bullard himself will move onto the next gig with fond memories of the last six seasons. He made light of Sky’s decision with an on-air joke alongside co-host Fenners, even amid reports the pair were left fuming upon hearing the news.
Bullard’s farewell outing is likely to be an emotional one, both for him and for Soccer AM as a show. Plenty will be waiting to see what’s next for an ex-pro who has left people in hysterics both before and after hanging up his football boots.
