Lee Gregory EXCLUSIVE: *That* comeback, a future at Sheffield Wednesday and Forest Green away

Sheffield Wednesday promotion hero Lee Gregory invited us into his home to relive one of the most unforgettable seasons in the club’s history. From the pressure moments and dressing room atmosphere to the incredible games against Peterborough United and Barnsley, Greggers opens up on what it really took to get Wednesday over the line.

We discuss the key turning points of the campaign, the fans’ impact, life behind the scenes at Hillsborough, and what it was like when Dejphon Chansiri fired Darren Moore. He also chats about a potential future at Middlewood Road as he begins his coaching journey.

⚽ Promotion memories
🎙️ Honest behind-the-scenes stories
🔥 Dressing room insight
💙 Sheffield Wednesday passion

If you enjoyed the interview, make sure to check out our other episodes and stay tuned for more.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Yeah, my wife just saw Sky Sports because I didn't look at my phone. She's like, that must be sent. I was like, what? I was like, no chance.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Hello, welcome to another edition of The Wednesday Word. I've been lucky enough to be invited to Lee Gregory's house. Lee, how are you doing, mate? Yes, very good, thank you. Good stuff, good stuff.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Don't put my address out there, will you?

SPEAKER_01 0:24

No, it's it's it'll be scrolling along the bottom of the yeah. Lee, first up, uh just wanted to chat to you about your your time at Wednesday at the moment. You're enjoying a little bit of coaching?

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Yeah, I love it to be fair. Like um just when I retired, I was like, I'm having nothing to do with football. Nothing. And then literally had a good Christmas with it with the family and stuff, and then all of a sudden I was a bit like now what? Um I've got other things going off in the background, but when you've been in football so long, it's just kind of something that just it's inside you that's burning, and I I wanted to see if I'd like to enjoy it. So I went in for a few days, and nice for the gaffer to invite me through and um see how everything works. And to be honest, I just loved it from there, and all of a sudden I've seen going in more or less every day. Is it a bit of an extra scratch for you?

SPEAKER_01 1:09

You know, like where with what you're I know when we spoke when you were at Wednesday, you always said that you weren't really looking into coaching and that side of things. Was it something that sort of built up over time?

SPEAKER_00 1:21

Maybe, I don't know. Um I was just enjoying football playing at that time. So you never think about the future as much, which I I should have, and I should have got all this in place before, but you never realise you just think I'm gonna play forever, which you do. Um and I was still 34, 35 then, thinking I'm still gonna play till I'm 40. Um, so I should have got something in place, but um it would just once I once I got a little taste of it, it was like being back in football, it's just like you say, it's just scratching that itch, and it would just I couldn't stop scratching.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

You've obviously gone in in the youth setup as a as an experienced pro, do you find yourself like looking at these youngsters and going, oh that's that's something I could really help him with?

SPEAKER_00 2:07

Yeah, that and also God, I wish that was me as well. So I keep saying to young lads, you don't know how lucky you are because the amount of people that tell you when you're playing, your career's gonna go like that, you're just like shit up, I'm I'm I'm fine, I'm I'll play forever, yeah, yeah. And then all of a sudden you go from being 22 to 37, retired and you're like, oh my, where has that gone? So I'm constantly telling the boys, like, just work as hard as you can right now, because one day I promise you, and that will be real soon, it's gonna go. Yeah, um, so at the minute I'm more individual work, I I can speak to the lads on an individual basis and try and help them um individually at the minute.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Yeah, because I suppose with with you with your story being so um different to a lot of these academy boys as well, you have a I suppose a different view on it, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Yeah, I can see both sides, yeah. So I if you're in an academy, you've got a better chance of going through to professional rather than when I was non-league and stuff. So I'm just saying to them, just honestly give everything every single day because if you're on the other side, it's harder to get back into it. And I've seen the other side, and I know how hard it is to work and earn your money and go play football part-time, and yeah, uh getting up at six, getting home at six, going to training at eight till ten, and all that sort of stuff. So it's um it's a lot harder. So just enjoy this and work as hard as you can.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

But on the on the youth side of things, do you see some some good players in that? I mean, I I sort of I've obviously watched Wednesdays Academy quite a lot over the last few years, and you know, a lot of those boys have been shunted up into the first team a little bit earlier than they probably should have been. But there is, you know, by all accounts, some some pretty interesting young lads coming through.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

Yeah, there is, and obviously, you can you can see who's been in the first team who's who's pretty good as well. Um, obviously, it's a different scenario, it's it's an unbelievable scenario for the young kids because they're getting appearances when ideally no matter how good they are now, like they would never have got them appearances and them chances. So to get them championship appearances right now for them is is huge. Yeah, look at Will Granger, like what, 17 years old and gonna score his first championship goal in. Not a bad finish either. Unbelievable finish. I didn't teach him that, he was uh very good. But yeah, so that's what I kept saying when I first went in. Is like this is the best chance for you, even at 17, 18, 19, to get championship appearances. Yeah, so you should be realising that and giving everything you can just to get that appearance. Um, but yeah, there's there's some there's some great players, and hopefully you'll uh Chef Wends will see a lot of them.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

Can only hope for better days because it's been uh it's been a rough, rough little patch for the football club, hasn't it?

SPEAKER_00 4:42

It has been rough, but hopefully now, hopefully, yeah, that is it's gonna start going forward. It needs to look at the club, it needs to look at that this Saturday against West Brom, sold out. Fan base is unbelievable. Clubs the clubs can be unbelievable with the right backing, yeah. And I think when he first came in, it looked like he was gonna do that, and then obviously I think they didn't get to the prem after the first couple of years, and then it all just started domino effects falling apart. I mean, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:11

What was that whole period like, you know, when you when you were at the club? Because there were so many good people there, you know. It's the the club is full of really good, honest people, you know. Darren was manager, and there was all this like really good stuff happening with a good group of players. How how did you deal with the nonsense, you know, the other stuff that was always going on in the background?

SPEAKER_00 5:31

We didn't, we didn't end there. I'll be honest, Darren Moore was really good at keeping that away from us. Um, and like you say, there's so many good people at Shift Wednesday, but the good people are doing two or three people's jobs, yeah. And that and it's kind of like they're that good that the club's taking advantage of them a little bit. So it's like one person should be doing one job when he's doing two or three people's jobs, and it's like it's unfair, but Darren Moore was the main thing of that. He was like, I'm the manager, and then he'll he'll book all of this and do all that and do all that. It's like you just worry about that, but that was just how the club was running. Um, hopefully that needs to change now, and they need a lot more staff. Um in every single field, you know, yeah, hint hint. Uh so you know, yeah, but no, in every field, like there's people there doing two or three people's jobs, and it's it's unfair, and because they're good people, they don't turn it down, they're like, Yeah, I'll do it because they look the club Wednesday arts as well, they love the clubs. They just love the club, so that's why they do it, and it's unfair, but that just shows you what type of people they've got. You mentioned Darren there.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

How sad was it to see you know, with that mad couple of weeks in May that were you know that will live so long in the memory? You know, you were like a band of brothers at that point, everyone's together, everyone's been through this like incredible experience. What was it like for you guys to have that sort of the rug just ripped from underneath you with Darren leaving and all that happening all at once?

SPEAKER_00 6:57

Do you know what it was like? Do you know when something happens and you're just shocked? You don't realise it until you come into that pre-season and because it doesn't really happen in football, right?

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Like with a manager leaving, as the players, you can always you can usually tell that like something's clear.

SPEAKER_00 7:11

It actually felt like we kind of started building something. Um the first year I was in, it we should have got promoted, but we didn't, but we built a bit built again, and it was like we were actually building somewhere, and obviously Darren had his his plays that he wanted to bring in for the new season, everything looking looking nice for the championship season. We came in the ground running, and all of a sudden, fosh. And I was like, I was on holiday and I had a couple of missed calls, but I missed them. And my wife just saw Sky Sports because I didn't look at my phone, she's like, You manage Darren must be inside. I was like, what? I was like, no chance. I looked at my phone, he called me, and I was like, Oh my, so I called him back. And obviously, the nice person is and he didn't want to speak about what had happened, but he just said this is this is the situation, and I was like, Jesus, like it's good you've ever got me extra year.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

But it it it really did feel like such a massive step back, didn't it? Because you know, like you said, I mean, we we know because we spoke to Darren and we've spoken to different people, we know the sort of players Darren was looking to bring in that next season, and look, we'll never know what would have happened, whether it would have been a relegation battle or like a you never know, and obviously that would have been in a better situation.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

That preseason was a shambles, wasn't it? Shambles, shambles.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

I think we went to Portugal and Algarve, it was also the hottest I've ever been.

SPEAKER_00 8:28

Yeah, no, it went to Spain. Algarve's year before we went to Spain. Oh, sorry, yeah, yeah, you're right. We went um Alicante way, wasn't it? Yeah, and it like I say it was absolutely buoyant. And I think we had like seven pros, the rest were young kids, and we played this the Spanish second division team, and we got absolutely battered. Pumped like four nuts. Absolutely battered, but we had like seven pros, we were playing with all the young kids who and then we got a new manager coming and trying to do things and bring players in, and I just think he he just got given a bad hand, and he brought in some good players, some very good players. I mean Dish Dish Bernard came in, Dish, Mousa, Gasser, all all some really good players came in, and um just it just took a bit of time, but he didn't have to give him time again. Right, you're gone. And then obviously Danny came in and he's he he did well with the players that Cisco brought in, or whoever recruited them players in. Yeah, um so it was it was a bit of a uh a tough, tough pre-season. I think the chairman just killed our championship from from then. Yeah, from when he as soon as he sat down and more that was it. It was like we had no manager, no pitch to train on nothing.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

It was it, yeah, it was madness. But like the that that's the two seasons in League One, and and from what it felt from the outside, anyway. It felt like the chairman had taken a bit of a step, I can just like kind of let Darren do his thing a little bit, and it was almost like championship. I'm I'm backing, I'm getting involved.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

Yeah, and it's because Darren did everything, like I said before, he did everything and yeah, championship and just I don't know what what Chan Zero saw with a championship, but I can remember we we had a meeting with him and yeah, we were going through your bonuses and stuff, and there were senior players in there, and he was like, I see you uh I see your players as as top top four, I think, or top six, and maybe Baz Palms and Patel was like suddenly going. We've got like seven pros in the building, we've got no team. On what basis? On what basis? He was like, we was like, This team's on their budget's ridiculous. We've not even got a team. So what what what are you trying to say? But he was just I think he was a bit deluding, like say, I think just championship just got he just saw Prem. He didn't see champions, he just saw promoted. Now look at Sunderland, yeah. But look what Sunderland did, kept the manager, built again, went again, yeah. Um so he saw them and thought, I can do that.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

Yeah, but I mean I think you it's funny, isn't it? That you look at teams like Sunderland and Brighton and Brentford, and you know, there's a famous thing with Chan Cerri about I think it was Brentford, he said they've got no ambition. Um but like with with the way that he is, like it almost it almost felt like he wanted all the good stuff, but wasn't prepared to put in any of the the hard work, the groundwork that is required to do that.

SPEAKER_00 11:23

Yeah, when he first came in, he should have done that from the start. He tried to just lump in to get to the prem as quick as he can, didn't happen, and then and then he went back 10 steps and it did try to build a a bit, but it didn't build in the right areas, and then it was just a force of just like trying to get through and trying to get up and trying to get back into the prem. And then obviously, once it didn't work, it's it's kind of like ah too close to the sun. Yeah, yeah. Now I'm now I'm getting burnt now, just a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

Yeah, with with that group of players. Obviously, I can't speak to you without speaking about that period and and that May and that season. Um I always wondered from like look, obviously, we wrote a book about it, but there was so much that happened over the course of that season, weren't there? So many moments in that season that were the making of it. Um I I spoke to David Stockdale the other day and and spoke to him about the the Forest Green game because that one always sticks always. Because that was it was you know Wednesday'd been on this incredible run, it was that Barnes that Barnes game, like the the Barnes game when when we lost, and it was like it was a defeat, but it didn't really feel like it should have been, and then Forest Green rolled around, and it's like oh shit, like something's happening there. Like what was there was there a realisation within the because I've but Stocko was saying to me that I think it was the last five games, yeah, and you had like a little team meeting and said we win these five, whatever happens, happens.

SPEAKER_00 12:50

Yeah, yeah. I think do you know it was so weird because obviously the Barnes game, Forest Green came around, and it was on Sky, and it was all this thing about um who was the manager? Who was the manager? Um Duncan. Yeah, yeah. Um Big Duncan was manager not win a game all season, or Walt since his time has been in, and Chef Wednesday's on this, blah blah blah. And you you were in the dressing room thinking, you can just feel it, you just know what's happening. Like I'm getting I'm getting interviewed because I'm like I'm 99 EFL goals, whatever it's like you're gonna score your hundred league goal today, blah blah blah. And I'm just thinking, you've just jinxed it. Chase for that, mate. Yeah, yeah. And then all this, and the game just started, it was just just dead, and just yeah, it was really flat. I know it was all right, but the whole game. Yeah, the whole game, and they scored, and then we just could not could not get into the game. And every time we speak about this, Forest Green, no matter who's it. This game always comes up, and all the fans are like, Oh, I remember going to Forest Green and this vegan burger and this and that.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

I think for for every every fan has you know, in any good or bad season, everyone's got that one game that really sticks out, and it is forest green. Um, and I think, yeah, for all the reasons that you know the size gap between the two clubs, the difference, and you know, where they are, the fan base, yeah, all that kind of stuff. Um, but yeah, I remember that game and just thinking, oh yeah, we we actually might we might screw this up yet.

SPEAKER_00 14:10

Yeah, I didn't think we'd like, but it just yeah, I know what you mean. I know what you mean. And I because I I can't remember did we draw a few after that as well? And went on a few draws, didn't we? And it's just because I remember when we was it was when was it, December or January, we was on the bus on the way back from I'll tell you when it were actually um Portsmouth away. We just won one nil.

SPEAKER_01 14:33

Yeah, bell a day out that.

SPEAKER_00 14:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

When Josh did Josh score?

SPEAKER_00 14:38

Bad weather before. Yeah, because he did the little taxi celebration today. So before the game, we was before going down the Friday, we we'd all meet at um junction 31, whatever it was, I can't remember on everyone. Pick up, we'll head down. So we're all getting over, weather's bad, snow. We get there, we're waiting, get a call. You're gonna have to come back to the training ground because the coach can't get there, so we're gonna have to get on the coach. So we drive all the way back to the the ground. We have Nando's at the training ground, waiting for food waiting for us, thinking, what is this prep here? Like, we've got a game tomorrow, like a big game. Yeah, and then because right, you can go back to the junction night, he'll meet you there. I was like, What is so we came back for food? This honestly was like this prep, it stinks, absolutely stinks. Get on the bus on the way down. Imagine this all went down really well with Darren. Oh, he was horrific, yeah. Josh as well, we're fuming. Um, and then we was we win one-nil on the coach wheel. I said, we're getting promoted. If this happens and we win, we're getting promoted.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

I thought we wouldn't leave that day, I'll be honest. Like the nature of it, like it's such a cauldron at Fratton Park, and the atmosphere's like so spicy and stuff, and we come away from a wig.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

It was like, right, let's get Vegas booked, let's get promotion party books, let's get it done, let's get it sorted. We're there, and then all of a sudden it's just like, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

How do you deal with that? You know, when you when when you are so confident in your own abilities, and look, that was a it was a really good Wednesday side. Very not only good players, but also a very effective team as well. Yeah, I think and like you know, when you get that sort of the stuffing knocked out of you like that, like how do you how do you deal with that?

SPEAKER_00 16:11

Well, we didn't deal with that.

SPEAKER_01 16:12

Not very well, apparently.

SPEAKER_00 16:14

I don't know because it's just football, and it's just you win games and you lose games, but I think it just everything got made with it got blew up with out of proportion. We we we went to lose against Barnsley 4-2, should have won. 2-2, we should have gone and win the game.

SPEAKER_01 16:31

Remember that keeper making absolutely worldly who it was uh Flintney, yeah, that was it.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Yeah, yeah, should have scored, and then we had the meeting with the chairman about him coming in, about blah blah blah, and then also what actually happened there? He was just about just the result not good enough, and just so he just came in was it after the game? I can't remember if it was after the game or in training on the next day or something, but we just had this but that got blow up proportion saying oh the chairman's gone off and what it weren't that bad, yeah. But it should never have said anything in the first we've lost one game in in how many games, um, and then it just got then Forest Green come and some more, and we're just like what is going on? It just all the pressure just got built on us then.

SPEAKER_01 17:12

Yeah, yeah. It was it was such a weird time because it was like you say, it did feel like there was a couple of games, weren't there? Like I remember beating beating Plymouth and it's like it's happening, it's happening, it's happening. Finally, not only because that that's how we when we were writing the book, that's how it started, because it was we were gonna write a book about Wednesday's first league title, right? And then when we when we dropped into it. So it's your fault, yeah. Well, we potentially but but as soon as we but when we dropped into the playoffs, me and Alex were like, We're better leave. Yeah, we can't really write a book about this, and then when when it got to the stage when obviously the playoff final had happened and Peterborough had happened, our publisher got in touch, he was like, You boys better get right. But like that that which made the book so much better, yeah. Of course it did. Because you had that real, like real, like actual jeopardy in there in the middle, and the whole world saw it.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

Well, all the UK saw it, you say it's like massive.

SPEAKER_01 18:04

It was crazy, weren't it? Because like after the the Peterborough game, you got like Pep Guardiola talking about it and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 18:08

Yeah, it was crazy, but it was that's just what football is, isn't it? People are not bothered what game it is, they just want to see entertainment, yeah, yeah, absolutely. That's all they want to see entertainment, and and let's be honest, for the for the neutral, that was probably the one of the best games to watch. No, it doesn't get much better, it doesn't, and yeah, it was whatnot.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

Yeah, I mean the Piber game I think always sticks out, and I think we've spoken about this before. Like, it's pretty miserable for me as a as a 36-year-old journalist knowing that I've peaked, like it don't get any better than that, yeah. But like the there were so many points in that game, and I know you you and the other guys have spoken about it a lot, but there was one bit for me, it was before the game started, and there was a I don't know if you ever saw it, there was a video of Darren that went with on the screen because I'm sure you'll have been in the change rooms and yeah, we didn't see it at the time, I've seen it obviously after, but I didn't see it at the time. Yeah, but the the the bit when he went, uh if ever we need to do it's tonight, yeah, and it was just like this like rumble, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

Well we didn't I've said it before, we didn't know what to expect. Yeah, just being battered phone, it could have been empty, yeah. It could have been empty, but absolutely when you when you come out and then you you can just feel it, and it's like it was just yeah, it was good, yeah, it was amazing.

SPEAKER_01 19:17

Was there any point for you like specifically in that game where you were either oh this ain't gonna happen, or this is definitely gonna happen? Because I remember Stoker was saying that I think it was before just before Reese scored, it was like I think we we might be running out of time, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

No, I so as soon as I got the pen, I thought this is it, we're done. And then it we it was about I think it was about 80, 80, 80 minutes or something. I just thought kept looking at the clock and it was seemed to be going so quick, and I'm like, just all like but it probably about 80 minutes thinking we've just just not got enough, yeah, just not got enough. Um valiant defeat, yeah, it was really, and then obviously Legend himself Palms picks up, but um, yeah, just even even if you see Peterborough lads now, speak to them, and they're just like that atmosphere was unbelievable, even though we got battered and lost, yeah. That atmosphere was the best of ever. And that's from the other team, yeah. So they they could feel it. So it does say a lot about the club out and the fans that and when people that say fans we need you like that just shows you that it can happen. How how pleased were you for Palms that that it was him? You know, of all the players in that side. That's all you want. That's yeah, out of all the players you want him to do that. You want him to do that. Um yeah, I'm buzzing through. And obviously he's he's getting all the recognition now from obviously he's second in the appearance, and now he's actually getting recognised because I know Palms had a bit of stick over the years about him being a player and all this and stuff, being at Wednesday so long, but people have to see how tough that actually is what he's achieved, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

Um do you think I remember speaking to Baz about Palms once and he said that he doesn't get he didn't feel like Liam got the the credit he deserved as a as a footballer, like his actual technical ability.

SPEAKER_00 21:04

It doesn't, it doesn't, but to achieve what he's like I said to achieve what he's achieved, you've got to be some player, yeah. Because he's played under multiple managers as well, they've all used him at some point, they've all used him, they've all used him. So that just shows you one is character and his talent and his hard work.

SPEAKER_01 21:20

For you as a as a as a Sheffield lad, like and I know that there's obviously been stuff said about you and your United Pass and all that kind of stuff, but how important is it for this city to have two fully functioning football clubs?

SPEAKER_00 21:36

We so we we had this awards night thing last night. We were speaking about this, and it's let's be honest, right? Is how much you want to beat the other team is always gonna be there, but you never want to see the other team be in a situation where Wendy's been in.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

Because you're never ever gonna get that rivalry if if that happens. Even though you are like you always say, Oh, I just want him to just to burn and drop out all the leagues. And oh, but you're never ever gonna play Wednesday again. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

You're never gonna you also get that atmosphere of it. Never.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

So it's you don't want them to be like that, but you just you don't want them to suffer like that, but you want to be able to beat them. Well that's it.

SPEAKER_01 22:09

Like I don't I don't I've always said with United, I don't want necessarily United to be bad. I just want us to be better than him.

SPEAKER_00 22:15

Yeah, like and that's all it is. You don't want them to be in in the conference and in league two and and just being a because it's no good to you then. No, because even though all this like talk with like well, obviously the fans and we're better than you, it's like, yeah, but we're in the crap. You don't want that, you want it to be like Wednesday top of the league, shifting out of second league, and just going at it, and that's where all like yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

Well it's like when United beat beat Wednesday this year, it did feel a bit like kicking a puppet. It's like you you can't really take no, it's not that I'm I'm not saying they shouldn't celebrate it.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

You know it's you know it's coming, yeah, yeah. You know it's coming and the other on the other end, it was a it would have been the biggest shock ever, if not. So you kind of know, but they you don't want it like that. Maybe on the game time, probably Chef and I did want that, but now looking, they don't want it. Yeah, because they're never gonna it's just say Chef, you get promoted next year and winter don't, and they might not play each other for years then.

SPEAKER_01 23:05

Yeah, and we've seen that, you know, we've seen we've gone these big spells without without them playing. Do you remember your first derby? Like, did you go as a player? Sorry, as a fan fan, yeah, I did you. Yeah, what was your first one? I was a ball boy. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, because it's I I mean I I remember my the I I've been to obviously went to a few derbies as a kid, but the one always sticks out to me was the Marcus Tug guy scored um that that long ranger because you can see everyone in the in the home fans going, go on, I dare you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And yeah, he did what he did. Um, but yeah, like you say, it's it wouldn't be nice to have that derby sort of stripped away from the city. There's no point that's you want that in the city, you want that tour, you want that rivalry.

SPEAKER_00 23:45

Yeah. So you go from best mates for one day to not being mates at all, yeah. And then it's so I get it, but you don't want the other club to be in turmoil. Nobody wants that. Yeah. Because otherwise it's you've got nothing for the city then.

SPEAKER_01 23:57

As a local, what do you think it is about this place? Because I've spoken to a lot of people that have come to Sheffield, whether it's footballers, either side of love today, and they just stay. Like there's like loads of students come here, stay decorative. I don't know. And it's it's weird, isn't it? Like it's not.

SPEAKER_00 24:13

Even our neighbours are from London, yeah, and Cotswold birth, like, so they're and but they love it here. Yeah. I don't know what it must be the people. Must be the people, I don't know. It's not the weather, is it? Definitely not the weather. Yeah, I don't know. So it must be there's there's something. There's something. And I've always grown up here, and I I loved it. I know I always knew I was gonna come back after football, whether wherever football took me. So I knew I was gonna come back, and uh I love it here. So I'll I'll probably I'll stay the rest of my life.

SPEAKER_01 24:38

Lee, thank you so much. It's been an opportunity. No problem, joy catch catching up with you, and hopefully we'll uh next time I interview you at some point you'll have a nice little Wednesday badging you too.

SPEAKER_00 24:46

Hopefully I can get something sorted. That'd be nice, yeah. Thank you.