Paul Lambert: ‘Zinedine Zidane just looked at me and said “bloody hell”’
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Broke and out of contract at Motherwell, the Scot took a risk in seeking a trial at Dortmund only to become an European Cup winner within 12 months. This is a story in three parts. The unlikely tale of how Paul Lambert signed for Borussia Dortmund in 1996. Why Lambert is still revered there, despite making only 64 appearances. And the sad story of why he had to leave Germany in 1997, although not everyone would describe a Glasgow-born footballer signing for Celtic in such gloomy terms.
![[Motherwell’s Paul Lambert runs with the ball in February 1995.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/c1248e9296f7888adcf5be899e8a43fc34a5c959/0_83_1387_1938/master/1387.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
That’s not to say Lambert hasn’t achieved a lot elsewhere. He won a Scottish Cup with St Mirren, helped Motherwell into Europe and captained Scotland and Celtic, where he won four league titles. He has managed some of England’s biggest teams: Aston Villa, Norwich City and controversially their rivals Ipswich. He has four children and seems happy away from management with his second wife, Kara, their two large Belgian Malinois dogs and numerous chickens at their home outside Nottingham. But we’re here to talk about Dortmund, and how a promising but relatively unproven Scottish midfielder went from earning £500 a week at Motherwell to becoming a Champions League winner within 12 months.
![[Borussia Dortmund’s Paul Lambert clears the ball as he is chased down by Juventus’s Zinedine Zidane during the 1997 Champions League final.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/027d9ac2d98bae33f8e7d577d0de52fbdad697b7/0_877_3297_4119/master/3297.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
“It was a really good side at Motherwell,” Lambert says. “We finished third, and then second behind Rangers in 1995. One of my old teammates, a guy called Rob McKinnon, got a move to FC Twente. I asked him: ‘How the hell did you get up that move?’ And he told me about a guy called Ton van Dalen.”.
![[Borussia Dortmund’s Paul Lambert displays a banner saying “Thank you fans of Borussia” after their November 1997 Champions League match against Parma, his final game for the German club.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/50e169bb0d05fb1c9c8d347249f3d7b3d5aa28db/0_0_1315_2048/master/1315.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Lambert was out of contract in the summer of 1996, a year after the Bosman ruling had kicked in. But with no mobile phone, no internet and no agent, Lambert didn’t have a huge array of options. “I was tapping my mum and dad for money. We [Lambert and his wife] were struggling. That made it an even bigger risk not to renew my contract with Motherwell. It was a massive gamble.
