Former Scotland international and RCD Mallorca defender Alan Hutton sat down with Get Spanish Football News to discuss his time in Spain with his former team.
Can you tell me a little bit about your time at Mallorca and any memories that really stand out for you?
The whole experience was absolutely brilliant. It’s something that I’d not gone through before. In terms of going to a different country and playing. It came out the blue from an agent I knew up in Scotland. It happened really quickly. In terms of experiences, it was like night and day from England or Scotland. Its culture was very different, where we’d go train with the team and then after that we’d go down to the beach and all sit and have a laugh. It was something I’ve never experienced. There wasn’t that pressure down on your shoulder where every day people are saying things to you in the press or the media, and it wasn’t like that; it was about enjoying your football. And to have the chance to go and play at some of the stadiums, Atlético de Madrid, it was obviously the old one [The Vicente Calderón Stadium] at the time, the Mestalla, going to the Bernabéu, the Nou Camp. All these things were just incredible for me. And also the overall look at football, even though we were a smaller team, it was go and play and go and attack. You were going to Real Madrid or Barcelona, and we want to play our game. Obviously, ultimately, we were playing against top opposition. But it was what we did. And I’ve never really come across that before, to go and attack those big teams. I thought the whole experience was brilliant, and ever since then, I always go back. My brother-in-law was there two weeks ago at a Mallorca game. It made an impression on us all. It was just a brilliant time for me.
You mentioned the move came about quite quickly. How did the move first materialise, and what were your initial thoughts?
I’m going to be brutally honest with you: I didn’t know Mallorca had a team. It was an agent that I knew from Glasgow, John Viola, it was kind of out of the blue. He said, ‘I’ve got this opportunity; would it be something you fancied?’ I needed to think about it. I wasn’t playing for Aston Villa at the time, and it was coming close to the end of the [transfer] window. I looked up the team and saw that Giovani Dos Santos was there, who I played with at Spurs. I was kind of like, ‘Alright, let’s just do it. I need to go and play. Let’s just do it. It’s something totally different.’ And it happened, really quickly after that. It was just get out here, fly over, and do everything we need to do. And as soon as I got there, I just felt at home. Everybody was really good around me. The staff that was looking after me. Everything was just perfect, and I felt that this was the place to be.
Can you tell me a little bit about your time at Mallorca and any memories that really stand out for you?
The whole experience was absolutely brilliant. It’s something that I’d not gone through before. In terms of going to a different country and playing. It came out the blue from an agent I knew up in Scotland. It happened really quickly. In terms of experiences, it was like night and day from England or Scotland. Its culture was very different, where we’d go train with the team and then after that we’d go down to the beach and all sit and have a laugh. It was something I’ve never experienced. There wasn’t that pressure down on your shoulder where every day people are saying things to you in the press or the media, and it wasn’t like that; it was about enjoying your football. And to have the chance to go and play at some of the stadiums, Atlético de Madrid, it was obviously the old one [The Vicente Calderón Stadium] at the time, the Mestalla, going to the Bernabéu, the Nou Camp. All these things were just incredible for me. And also the overall look at football, even though we were a smaller team, it was go and play and go and attack. You were going to Real Madrid or Barcelona, and we want to play our game. Obviously, ultimately, we were playing against top opposition. But it was what we did. And I’ve never really come across that before, to go and attack those big teams. I thought the whole experience was brilliant, and ever since then, I always go back. My brother-in-law was there two weeks ago at a Mallorca game. It made an impression on us all. It was just a brilliant time for me.
You mentioned the move came about quite quickly. How did the move first materialise, and what were your initial thoughts?
I’m going to be brutally honest with you: I didn’t know Mallorca had a team. It was an agent that I knew from Glasgow, John Viola, it was kind of out of the blue. He said, ‘I’ve got this opportunity; would it be something you fancied?’ I needed to think about it. I wasn’t playing for Aston Villa at the time, and it was coming close to the end of the [transfer] window. I looked up the team and saw that Giovani Dos Santos was there, who I played with at Spurs. I was kind of like, ‘Alright, let’s just do it. I need to go and play. Let’s just do it. It’s something totally different.’ And it happened, really quickly after that. It was just get out here, fly over, and do everything we need to do. And as soon as I got there, I just felt at home. Everybody was really good around me. The staff that was looking after me. Everything was just perfect, and I felt that this was the place to be.
1 day ago
