Stick to Stallone: When a football podcast turned into a Sly fanfest

There are few things in global sport more intimidating than Roy Keane. Even when he is in a good mood. The former Manchester United captain has spent decades making grown men squirm. With a look here, a dressing room dressing-down there or even with a blunt television monologue in his latest role as a studio pundit.

Yet, when Sylvester Stallone walked into the latest episode of Stick to Football – possibly the best football podcast in town, hosted by Keane’s Manchester teammate Gary Neville, with regulars Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright and Jill Scott in attendance – Keane did something that might have seemed impossible to those who know a thing or two about him.

He was starstruck.

Not just a little starstruck, either. Keane, at the age of 55, had turned up wearing a Rambo T-shirt. Roy Keane. In a Rambo T-shirt, in front of old Rambo himself. It is difficult to imagine a more convincing demonstration of the power of cinema.

The giveaway came before Stallone had even arrived. Neville, not exactly known for being overwhelmed by celebrity, acknowledged that this was the only guest in four years of the show’s history who had persuaded the podcast to change its location. The regular London studio had been abandoned for Stallone's hotel.

The cast of Stick to Football are themselves a collection of sporting celebrities. Between them, they have won league titles, lifted major trophies and commanded the attention of millions. They are accustomed to being the most famous and authoritative people in a room or studio. But as soon as 80-year-old Sly sat within those four walls, the hierarchy changed. And how.

Here was the man who created Rocky Balboa, the underdog boxer whose improbable rise became one of cinema's defining stories, and John Rambo, the battle-scarred veteran who made entire armies look badly understaffed. Stallone's characters have occupied the imaginations of generations, including those of men who spent their own careers being treated as gods.

As Stallone entered, Keane straightened himself up for a handshake. Stallone duly noticed the outfit and said: “Nice shirt.” Then we all lived to see the day Roy Keane blushed.

“Wow, can’t believe you’re really here,” were the first words out of a starstruck Wright, all but pinching himself. “We are around royalty,” added Scott.

The episode that followed had nothing to do with football. Nothing. For a little over an hour, Sly discussed all things Sly: the making of Rocky, the role that nearly eluded him, his rivalry with Arnold Schwarzenegger, his childhood and the physical punishment he endured for his craft. The footballers listened, prompted and reminisced.

For a little over an hour, it was in fact Stick to Stallone.