I don't recall them coming back with Ifill. Greenacre yes, and someone else that fell through (I can't remember who) then Ifill came across late while the club were in China.
So what brought you to the A-League?
I was talking to Nick Carle in the gym one day, and said I was keen on going to the MLS. Nick said: "what about the A-League?" I wasn't sure - I thought it was a bit far. Anyway, he spoke to his agent, and soon I had an offer from Wellington, which I dismissed initially, because New Zealand seemed even further away! Then, the agent agreed a deal for me to come to Central Coast Mariners and be their marquee. But at the last minute, it was scrapped. I learned later that, because Sheffield United have a stake in the Mariners, one of the directors had told them I was injury prone, and that I went missing during games. At that time, it was all I had, so I was very disappointed.
A while later, I bumped into Gary Alexander, the ex-Millwall striker. He said he'd been offered a deal by Wellington Phoenix, but couldn't take it because his family life was a bit complicated. It sparked my interest again. I thought why not do something different? I spoke to my wife and she said "let's go" - so I got back in touch with the agent, and ended up signing a one year deal with an option to extend.
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It has been said a few times by other people on here, our best recruitment was when Ricki and Tony went to England. But from that it seems, we only ended up with Ifill by chance, rather than that recruitment trip.