Daz Sampson’s versatility has seen score huge success in two very different modes of life.
The Stockport native had a promising career as a professional footballer but his dreams were scuppered after suffering an injury which led him towards radio broadcasting.
Sampson went from playing music to making it having been involved with several music groups including Bus Stop, Fraud Squad, and Sampson & Mason.
READ MORE: ‘I represented the UK at Eurovision – then I became a football manager in Guam’
READ MORE: Lethal Liverpool gem is grandson of Eurovision singer who won skateboarding gold for GB
Learn more
Sky Sports is bringing you 500 live football games to watch, as well access to Cricket, Golf, F1, Boxing, NFL, NBA and more across eight dedicated channels. Sky Sports is the only way to watch all the action this year.
£22 a month
Sky
The 49-year-old also found success with the band Uniting Nations which sparked his memorable performance of ‘Teenage Life’ at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006 when the band were asked whether they’d be interested in representing the UK on the international stage by music industry executive Richard Park.
While Sampson placed a lowly 19th out of 24 acts at Eurovision, the song was a major hit before the competition, having clinched a Top 10 hit for him on the UK Singles Chart as he previously revealed his thoughts on his chances of winning.
Which footballer would make the best UK representative in the Eurovision Song Contest? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below
(Image: Getty)
“If you listen to my interviews from back then, you’ll have heard me saying I thought we could have won the whole thing,” he told Ladbrokes in 2007. “I knew full well we were not going to win, but if I was going to have a fight with Tyson Fury, I’m not gonna say ‘he’s gonna kick the hell out of me’, because I’d be beaten before I got in the ring!”
His new-found celebrity status led to reality TV opportunities with offers flooding in from the likes of Big Brother and I’m A Celebrity but a route back into football is what Sampson most desired as he made the unlikely trip to Poland to start managing a semi-professional club.
He recalled: “We played Wisla Krakow in a cup. At the time, I had a team of taxi drivers and plasterers, and they – a Champions League team – only beat us 3-2 over two games.”
(Image: BBC)
Join the Daily Star’s WhatsApp for the sexiest headlines, showbiz gossip and lots more
The Daily Star is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join us!
Through the app, we’ll send you the sassiest showbiz stories, some naught headline and a seismic smattering of aliens…along with the latest breaking news of course.
To join our community, all you have to do to join is click on this link, select ‘Join Chat’ and you’re in!
No one will be able to see who has sign up and no one can send messages except for the Daily Star team. We also treat our community members to competitions, special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.
If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose Exit group. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
An even more offbeat move was on Sampson’s cards as he later took charge of a team in American territory Guam, where he enjoyed great success. “I remember taking my first training session in Guam. I get there, not a ball in sight,” he said, who also coached in America.
“It’s all about fitness and the shape of the squad. And then at the end, they get these tennis balls out. Honest to God, you could not get the ball off these players.
“In the last five seasons, I have a 72 per cent win rate. I took a team in Guam – with players who weren’t even being paid when I went there – to second in the league, to winning the cup, to now having three international players playing for them.”
(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Despite his period of success in the Pacific Island, Sampson returned home to England to take charge of Cheshire League side Halebank FC in 2018 but complained that he hasn’t always been taken seriously due to his showbiz background.
He told the Liverpool Echo: “I wasn’t taken seriously in this country, I was just seen as that guy off the telly. I came back to this country in 2016, coaching Ashton Town, but I still wasn’t taken seriously. But go to Guam or Tampa, they’ll not know me as a musician, they’ll know me as a bloody good football manager.
“I’ll never get away from that stigma of Eurovision etc, but I don’t want it [managing Halebank] to become a circus.” With Olly Alexander, formerly of band Years & Years, representing the UK in Eurovision this month, Sampson admitted a return to the global stage is one he’d happily welcome,
“If you could wave a magic wand and put me back in it this year, I’d snap your hand off,” he said. I’d do it again because aside from how it messes up your career – if you’re not too serious about it. It’s like going to the World Cup of music. The Eurovision fans are like football fans, it’s unreal. Of course I’d do it again.