http://www.nationwide.co.uk/football/common/topstory.asp?ID=64325&W=0

Can't take away the scar
20 Nov

Def Leppard bassist Rick 'Sav' Savage could have been a very familiar name on
football matters @ nationwide if his original career choice had gone to plan. As
a budding centre-forward for Sheffield United schoolboys, Sav seemed destined
for greatness in the beautiful game...

Despite an immensely successful and lucrative career as bassist for veteran
rockers Def Leppard, Rick Savage would be the first to admit that he has made
mistakes during his 25 years in the music business.

But he resolutely maintains that the worst decision he made in his entire life
came prior to his pre-Def Leppard days. As a gifted young footballer he signed
schoolboy forms for Sheffield United - but what followed was not the pathway to
soccer stardom but a chastening experience which has scarred him for life.

Sav actually grew up an avid Sheffield Wednesday fan, but when it came to taking
his first steps along the road to football professionalism he listened to advice
and ended up putting pen to paper to sign for the Owls' deadly rivals United.

To a soccer fan this may sound strange, but to a neutral at the time his
decision would have been perfectly reasonable. The season was 1974/75, when
Wednesday were relegated to Division Three while the Blades finished a
creditable sixth in Division One - the top flight in the pre-Premiership era.

Sav's primary concern was his career and any club loyalties were put to one
side. He explained: "At that particular point in time I wanted to become a
professional footballer, and signing for United looked like the right decision
as they had the best team by a long way.

"The side at Wednesday, which is the club I would have preferred to play for,
was really poor at the time. After being relegated in 1975 they only just
managed to escape relegation to the bottom (4th) division a year later and there
seemed to be no future there.

"I had the choice - I could have gone to United, to Wednesday or to any of the
other local teams - Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley. They all wanted to sign
me, but given how United were doing at the time it would have been a stupid
decision not to sign for them."

That decision would, however, ultimately turn sour as Sav played out his
schoolboy terms and was then released at 16.  "It just never worked out," he
said, "I never, ever played well for United. I just didn't perform as well as I
knew I could.

"I didn't really like the set-up, I didn't enjoy the experience, I didn't feel
comfortable with it and it really put me off wanting to even try to become a
professional once United released me."

Despite offers from his beloved Wednesday to join them shortly after leaving the
Blades, Sav had been so disillusioned with his experience at Bramall Lane that
instead, and in an attempt to rediscover his love of the game, he threw himself
into unpaid football in the Sheffield Sunday Leagues.

At this time his day job was as an apprentice engineer at British Rail, but he
was also moonlighting in the evenings in a certain rock band that had started
attracting a lot of attention.

Sav enjoyed his sojourn back in amateur football, but by this time he had
realised that an alternative career as a musician beckoned.

"Strangely enough," he recalled, "I played the best football I ever played
during that time. There was no pressure, I just enjoyed playing. I was Player of
the Year for two seasons with my Sunday League club, but by this time the band
was just starting to get noticed.

"It got to the point where, even though I was only 18, I thought I'd already
missed the boat as a footballer. Clubs were still sniffing around and making the
odd offer, but I just didn't want to go through that trial process and I just
couldn't be bothered to try and get into a team of strangers or try to make new
friends and colleagues.

 "I felt I'd given it a go but I didn't really like it, so I faded the football
thing into the background. I know a lot of people that actually went on to make
a reasonable living out of the game but that, in all fairness, wouldn't have got
into the sides that I was playing in at the age of 16.

"There are so many factors other than just talent that you have to get right to
make it as a pro, and there is such a massive development in lads both
physically - but more importantly mentally - from the ages of 15 to 18.

"Everyone knows of players who have become professionals who are not necessarily
that talented - but they are just so, so dedicated and that takes you a long
way."

Sav thus put all his determination, talent and effort into his music career with
Def Leppard. He is nevertheless frequently asked these days if he regrets
missing out on the lavish riches heaped on star Premiership players.

Now 42, however, he is quick to point out a key historical as well as financial
fact: "If I'd made it," he said, "I would have been playing in the top flight
but before the Premiership, before Sky TV and before all the really big money
went into the game - I'd have probably been on £100 a week at most!

"Joe (Elliott) recently told me that Vinny Jones had been on £350 a week when
Wimbledon beat Liverpool in the FA Cup in 1988. That was good money then, but it
hardly matches the £60,000 to £100,000 a week that players are earning now."

In spite of his success as part of one of rock's longest running acts, Sav still
regrets signing for the Blades - though if he had made a different decision at
the time, he may never have become a legendary rocker.

"I think that if I'd signed for Sheffield Wednesday," he said, "I might have
ended up becoming a professional footballer - you never know, do you?" Soccer's
loss has been rock music's - and surely, despite his still-felt Blades-related
anguish, Rick Savage's gain.

Rick Savage was speaking to Managing Editor Dave Wilson in the second of a
series of three features on Def Leppard and football. Watch out for the third
feature, coming soon with Joe Elliott & Rick Savage giving their views on
everything from England's chances in Euro 2004 to what they think about women's
football.

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