FORMER Millwall captain Tony Craig revealed he turned down three offers from Crystal Palace as he fought against a move across south London early in his career – but says he has no regrets in football.
Craig, 36, played 322 times for Millwall over four spells and is currently at League Two Crawley Town.
The defender won two promotions to the Championship with the Lions and became renowned as a wholehearted player who got the most out of his career.
In an interview on Millwall’s official podcast, Wall Talk, Craig said he couldn’t understand why players with more ability than him didn’t work harder.
“It’s well known at this club what type of player you’ve got to be,” Craig said. “You’ve got to be a player that gives it their all, don’t jump out of tackles because you don’t survive here.
“People here aren’t shy in coming forward.
“There were numerous players here with unbelievable ability I could only have dreamt of but they don’t survive here.
“I knew my strengths and I knew my weaknesses. Of course I tried to rectify them and improve but I knew what I was capable of doing.
“That was running up and down the line, putting crosses in, but more importantly I knew I could tackle and I knew I could defend.
“Sometimes I look back and think could I have done this or that, but for me personally, I’ve got no regrets in my career because I know I gave my all day-in, day-out.
“Of course I would have loved to have that extra ability, that extra yard of pace and more quality on the ball because you never know. Unfortunately I didn’t have it.
“There have been loads of players who came here with unbelievable talent but they just didn’t give it their all. They must look back with regret. I don’t. What an opportunity they had for a career and they just let it go.”
Craig left Millwall for the first time in 2007, and he explained how little the move to rivals Palace appealed to him.
“It was a very, very difficult time,” he said. “I had a phone call from my agent saying Crystal Palace are interested. You’re thinking, ‘what’s happening here?’
“All of a sudden [Lions boss] Willie Donachie called me up, and Willie Donachie never called you up. He goes, ‘Tone, we’ve accepted an offer from Crystal Palace’. I said, ‘Willie, I don’t want to go. You know what this club means to me, and the rivalry, if I go over there what it could do to me.’
“He goes, ‘we got an offer we can’t refuse, I’ve got another player I want to bring in and I want to sacrifice you to get this player in’.
“He said he’d give me 24 hours to think about it, but I said I didn’t want to go. I said, ‘Will, call me up in 24 hours, my mind will not change. I can assure you of that.’
“I was still living at home at this point. I‘m going downstairs telling me mum and dad they’d accepted an offer from Crystal Palace. My parents said whatever decision I made they’d stick with me.
“Twenty hours passed and he’s called me. ‘Tony, the offer, what are you thinking?’ I said: ‘I’m not going. I don’t want to go, I‘m not sure if it’s worth the hassle. Tell them thanks for the offer but the move’s not for me.’
“He said, ‘the money we get for you, I want to sign Ryan Smith [from Derby]. It’s done. It’s completed. We need the funds in, so you’ve got to go.’
“I told him if I didn’t agree terms then the move doesn’t happen. I remember he put the phone down and I didn’t ring him back. The next morning he rang me back saying he was putting his foot down. He was selling the club to me, saying it was the perfect opportunity to move up to the Championship.
“A couple of days later I‘m meeting [Crystal Palace manager] Peter Taylor for the first time. I turned down three offers from them but when the fourth came in you’ve got Willie on the phone, the board on the phone saying we need the money.
“Unfortunately the move materialised and I had to move on. The number was in my head and Crystal Palace got to that number.
“I did feel pushed out, there were no other options because no other team came in for me.”
Craig also explained his approach to games.
“It’s pure adrenaline, you don’t want to be the one that f**ks up,” he said. “I’ve always had my adrenaline pumping because if I don’t I’m a poor player.
“I have to eff and shout. Sometimes I even speak rubbish just to get that adrenaline and blood pumping. I know when I’m on it’s when I have this little vein popping up in my head here.
“If I lose a game I look at it as they’ve taken something off me. My main incentive is to give my wife and kids the best life I can possibly give.
“When I cross that white line I have no mates in football.”
Image: Millwall FC