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How did a footballer on the verge of the big time at Liverpool later find himself at the centre of a massive cocaine bust? We have a first-hand account for you.
Plus: what Arsenal knew about Thomas Partey allegations, Morgan Gibbs-White set for Tottenham medical, and the New York Cosmos are back.
Player to dealer: How ex-Liverpool youth star Cassidy was jailed over £28m drugs plot
Jamie Cassidy made headlines last year when he and his brother, Jonathan, were jailed for their part in smuggling £28m worth ($35.8m) of cocaine into the UK. The case drew attention because Cassidy, now 47, was better known for being a former professional footballer at Liverpool.
Simon Hughes covered the sentencing hearing for The Athletic, and there was an air of finality about his extensive backgrounder. Cassidy received a prison sentence of 13 years and three months. Police first arrested him in 2020 and, having served time in between on remand, he was released on parole last month, which is where this story gets even more interesting.
Upon leaving jail, Cassidy sought Simon out. He had read the coverage of his conviction and wanted to speak about the events which led him to become part of a smuggling network that imported 356kg of cocaine into England from South America, via the Netherlands. Their conversations form the basis of a phenomenally compelling feature, published this morning.
To recap briefly, Cassidy was a supremely gifted, left-footed midfielder who came close to breaking through at Liverpool in the 1990s. Some of his peers, such as Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen, made it big there, and Cassidy believed he would do the same. He made England’s training squad for Euro 1996. A breakthrough was close enough to touch.
How, then, did he spiral from those heady heights to the end of his professional career in his early 20s and a future role in the global narcotics trade? The crux of the matter is injury: a torn ACL from which he never recovered. Cassidy describes himself as “completely lost” during his adult life, something he says he intends to change.
‘It happens over a period of time’
I’m wary of showing Cassidy too much sympathy and, in fairness to him, he’s not asking for any. His interview with Simon is full of contrition. “Nobody put the Encro (EncroChat — an encrypted messaging service used by drug dealers to communicate, which police broke into to bust Cassidy’s operation) in my hand but me,” he says. When the time came to plead, he pleaded guilty.
But there is more than a vague element of misfortune in Cassidy’s story. The demise of his career earned him little emotional support. His father — who stood by Cassidy and who he talks about incredibly fondly, and who died the day after Cassidy was released from jail — responded to the question “why me?” by simply asking “why not you, lad?”. “It was a different time,” Cassidy says. “If there was a problem, you had to try and get on with it.”
Carragher referenced Cassidy in his autobiography, extolling his ability. Cassidy felt so low that he reached the point where he could hardly bring himself to watch Liverpool. He moved into the building trade, where he came into contact with the city’s criminal underworld. Gradually, he found himself crossing the line. “It happens over a period of time,” he says. “In jail, some say lads want to be either a footballer or a drug dealer. Unfortunately, I’ve been both.”
It’s an important story because aftercare for players who chase a career in football but don’t succeed in creating one is a long-standing concern. Cassidy, who worked to support suicidal inmates in jail, says that when he left Liverpool after almost 12 years, “I couldn’t change a plug and suddenly I was out like an old stray dog.” It wasn’t easy for him to know what came next and it will be harder to predict what comes after prison. But to take his comments at face value — and I really would give Simon’s interview your time — he’ll seek to wipe the slate as clean as he can.
Transfer talk: Tottenham sign Kudus for £55m and target £60m Gibbs-White
Have Tottenham Hotspur undergone a personality transplant? For so long derided as a club devoid of adequate ambition — unwilling to spend what needs to be spent in the Premier League — they’re sinking £115m or thereabouts into two back-to-back signings.
Mohammed Kudus from West Ham United is already done. That’s a £55m transfer. But more eye-opening again is Spurs’ £60m approach for Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White, a midfielder who Manchester City gave consideration to buying. No sooner had David Ornstein broken the exclusive than Gibbs-White was booked in for a medical today.
The deals represent concerted backing for new head coach Thomas Frank, and Gibbs-White in particular is a demonstration of how Spurs winning the Europa League, thereby qualifying for the 2025-26 Champions League, gave them a) more pulling power and b) more revenue to dabble with. Suffice to say, they ain’t finishing 17th next season.
Also going down in the livestock ring:
Forest would like to spend some of the funds from Gibbs-White (assuming the sale goes through) on Brentford forward Yoane Wissa. The trouble is, Brentford are playing hardball this summer, as is their prerogative, and Forest are well short of Wissa’s valuation.
Arsenal’s bid for Chelsea’s Noni Madueke looks like it’s on. The clubs are expected to shake hands on a fee worth £52m. That will burn a hole in Chelsea’s pocket, no doubt.
Breaking this morning: two years on from trading Liverpool for Saudi Arabia, Jordan Henderson is returning to the Premier League. Brentford are handing the 35-year-old a two-year contract after his exit from Ajax.
Real Madrid’s long-winded pursuit of Benfica left-back Alvaro Carreras — once of Manchester United — is also getting there. United stand to profit from a 20 per cent sell-on clause.
An interesting one in Major League Soccer: Inter Miami are speaking to Atletico Madrid about midfielder Rodrigo De Paul. He’d be a cracking asset for them.
News round-up
Crystal Palace shareholder John Textor thinks the club will retain their Europa League place, despite the ownership tangle involving one of his other projects, Lyon. So he told a radio station, anyway.
Endrick could do with a change in luck at Real Madrid. The 18-year-old has suffered a recurrence of the hamstring injury that kept him out of the Club World Cup. He might miss the start of the new season.
Ex-Madrid winger Gareth Bale is pushing on with attempts to buy League One club Cardiff City. The consortium he’s part of have upped their offer and want full control. Cardiff are the Welshman’s hometown team. His old Bernabeu team-mate, Luka Modric, is just down the road at Swansea City. Small world.
Hosts Switzerland sneaked into the knockout stages of Euro 2025 by the skin of their teeth last night. A 92nd-minute equaliser squeezed out Finland. Switzerland will most likely meet Spain in the quarter-finals, which should mean curtains for them.
Atlanta United president and CEO Garth Lagerwey is stepping away from the franchise to undergo treatment for cancer.
Partey timeline: When did Arsenal know about rape allegations?
More now on Thomas Partey, the former Arsenal midfielder who earlier this month was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault. The 32-year-old denies all the charges and is due to appear in court in just over three weeks’ time.
Until he was charged, UK law prevented The Athletic from identifying Partey as the footballer under investigation. While the case is live, there are also strict limits on what we can report. But questions are being asked of Arsenal’s management of him — their decision to continue playing Partey while police looked into the claims against him — and James McNicholas has worked hard to establish what the club knew and when.
It turns out that they were first made aware of a complaint against Partey in September 2021, almost four years before he was charged. They also knew that England’s Crown Prosecution Service was still considering whether to charge Partey while Arsenal were discussing a contract extension with him towards the end of last season. While James’ article makes for uncomfortable reading, it’s an essential piece of work.
Around TAFC
Three years after her last professional appearance, it’s the end of the road for USWNT legend Tobin Heath. A nasty knee injury got the better of the two-time World Cup winner and she announced her retirement yesterday, aged 37. Meg Linehan chased down a lovely interview with her.
In the aftermath of their Gold Cup defeat, Adam Crafton spoke to the USMNT’s Tyler Adams about where the team go from here. They got into the subject of how to attract more U.S. fans to matches.
Don’t miss Nick Miller’s feature on how clubs deal with the tragic loss of a player such as Diogo Jota. Even now, I can remember exactly where I was when I heard the news of the death of Phil O’Donnell in Scotland just after Christmas in 2007. He was only 35.
What’s the score with Jhon Duran? Jacob Tanswell is tackling that question this morning because Duran, for all his wealth of talent, hasn’t managed to settle anywhere. Fenerbahce, with Jose Mourinho, is his latest partnership.
Quiz question: seven players have registered more than 100 goals and assists in the Premier League in the 2020s. Name them for us please. As per, answers here later today and in Monday’s TAFC.
Most clicked in Thursday’s TAFC: PSG’s demolition job on Madrid.
Catch a match
(Selected matches; times ET/UK)
Friday: UEFA European Women’s Championship: Group B: Italy vs Spain; Portugal vs Belgium, both (3pm/8pm) – Fox Sports/BBC.
Saturday: UEFA European Women’s Championship: Group C: Poland vs Denmark; Sweden vs Germany, both (3pm/8pm) – Fox Sports/ITV; MLS: FC Cincinnati vs Columbus Crew, 7.30pm/12.30am (Sunday, UK) – MLS Season Pass/Apple TV; Inter Miami vs Nashville, 7.30pm/12.30am (Sunday, UK) – Fox Sports, Fubo, MLS Season Pass/Apple TV; Chicago Fire vs San Diego, 8.30pm/1.30am (Sunday, UK) – MLS Season Pass/Apple TV.
Sunday: FIFA Club World Cup final: Chelsea vs Paris Saint-Germain, 3pm/8pm – TBS, Fubo, DAZN in US and UK/Channel 5.
UEFA European Women’s Championship: Group D: England vs Wales, (3pm/8pm) – Fox Sports/ITV, BBC; Netherlands vs France, (3pm/8pm) – Fox Sports/ITV.
And finally…
I can’t think of the New York Cosmos — and you won’t either — without thinking of Pele. The majestic Brazilian played for them between 1975 and 1977, back when soccer in the United States was rather experimental. The club all but drifted off the map in the 1980s.
Over the years, various attempts have been made to revive and sustain them. And once again, they’ve found a pulse. In 2026, the Cosmos will compete in League One in the United Soccer League (USL), the culmination of plans to launch a team in New Jersey. Their iconic old badge is on the way back. It’s got wholesome vibes, and it’s what Pele would have wanted.
(Top photo: Cameron Smith – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)