World Cup winner names ‘scary’ St James’ Park as favourite stadium to play at

Marcel Desailly won the World Cup with France in 1998 and moved to Chelsea just 48 hours after the triumph over Brazil. The Frenchman spent six years at Stamford Bridge and played over 150 Premier League matches.

Having been involved in some of football’s biggest games and competitions, therefore, it may come as a surprise that he has recently revealed that St James’ Park was his favourite Premier League stadium to play football in. Speaking to SuperSport, Desailly described the stadium as a ‘scary’ place to play.

Desailly said: “St James’ Park, yes. I like this stadium, Newcastle. Quite scary at the time they were having a good crowd, good fans.”

Following retirement from the game in 2005 after a stint in Qatar, Desailly acted as a scout for AC Milan before taking up a role with the France national team in 2011. Unfortunately for the 54-year-old, his most memorable moment on Tyneside came when Alan Shearer out-muscled him to strike home a 30-yard effort.