Icons of Football: Joe Jordan

Fabio Capello, eventual AC Milan manager

I was working with AC Milan. At the time, [Giuseppe] Farina was the chairman and we were looking for a centre-forward. I went to Glasgow to watch a game, where Joe Jordan was playing

I had seen a good player but most importantly a driving force. Everyone was thrilled that day, that night, all the Scottish fans, and he really was a leader on the pitch.

In Milan, I spoke with the chairman and gave my account. I said that he was a good player, very strong mentally. That was my encounter with Joe Jordan, I only saw him once.

He is remembered because he was a very serious professional, very considerate and generous on the pitch.

Mauro Tassotti, former AC Milan team-mate

We would travel in the same car. We would take a car and go. There were four of us; there was me, Jordan, [Ruben] Buriani – who were the senior players in AC Milan – Buriani and [Roberto] Antonelli and Jordan. Let’s say that they were the most senior players in AC Milan at the time.

This experience with foreign players, with Jordan, helped us realize that we needed to go all out, full speed, even during training sessions.

On Jordan’s clash with Rino Gattuso when a Tottenham Hotspur coach

Knowing Joe, he never backed down, not even with a man who was 30 years younger than him.

We laughed a lot thereafter. We’ve been making fun of Rino for so long.