On this day in 1993, Sir Alex Ferguson had to let some of his young players "go" from his United squad, players that Alex thought would not make the grade! A young 19 year old, Robbie Savage, was told he was one of the club youngsters that would be "let go" and so Robbie left Old Trafford in a daze, so much so that he crashed his car. "The next thing I knew, I had crashed and was in hospital with broken bones, a cut head, no feeling in my arm....the lot".
Born in Wrexham, Savage started his playing career with local sides Brickfield Rangers and Lex XI. When he finished school, he joined Manchester United as a trainee and originally played as a striker. He played in the FA Youth Cup winning team of 1992, and was later given a professional contract, but never played a first-team game for the club and signed for Crewe Alexandra in 1994.
Savage switched into midfield early in his time at Crewe and proved himself as a competent young player, helping the club reach the Division Two play-offs in his first two seasons; a remarkable feat for a newly promoted club who had only played at this level twice in the previous 30 years. Crewe then made it third time lucky by sealing promotion via the play-offs in 1997. It was the first time that Crewe had reached the second tier of the Football League, but shortly after helping Crewe win promotion, Savage handed in a transfer request to manager Dario Gradi.
Savage was transferred to Premier League side Leicester City, managed by Martin O'Neill, for a fee of £400,000, in July 1997. Savage spent five years at Leicester, where he made his name as a reliable, competitive and fiery midfielder. In 1999, Leicester reached the League Cup Final against Spurs. In a controversial incident, Savage made a poor tackle on Tottenham's Justin Edinburgh, who retaliated by swinging his arm out. Contact was minimal, but Savage fell to the ground. Edinburgh was sent off for raising his arms, and although Tottenham went on to win the final, many Spurs fans still hold a grudge against Savage for the incident to this day. However, a year later Savage reached the League Cup final again, this time winning 2–1 against Tranmere Rovers.
| Senior career* | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1993–1994 | Manchester United | 0 | (0) |
| 1994–1997 | Crewe Alexandra | 77 | (10) |
| 1997–2002 | Leicester City | 172 | (8) |
| 2002–2005 | Birmingham City | 82 | (11) |
| 2005–2008 | Blackburn Rovers | 76 | (1) |
| 2008–2011 | Derby County | 124 | (7) |
| 2008 | → Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | Stockport Town | 1 | (0) |
| Total | 538 | (37) | |
In his first five months as a Blackburn player, Savage helped his new club to Premier League safety and reached the FA Cup Semi-final, a 3–0 loss to Arsenal in his homeland's Millenium Stadium..
In March, Savage called an end to his international career after new manager John Toshack dropped him for a World Cup 2006 qualifying game against Austria. His feud with Toshack and the Welsh FA continued long into the 2005–06 season as Savage insisted he retired from international football only because Toshack told him he was not good enough to play for Wales.
In 2005-6, Savage played for Blackburn Rovers, making 42 appearances but only scoring once, against former club Birmingham City!The following season he played in Rovers' UEFA Cup campaign, but his season was cut short by a broken leg in January, which kept him out for the rest of the season.
During the 2007–08 season, Savage endured knee problems, suffering a knock in the 2–1 win at Spurs after being caught by Robbie Keane. Surgery was required which kept him out of the starting lineup for six weeks. Following his return to the 1st team, he found it harder to get into the starting XI. Savage was well liked by the Blackburn fans and was given a standing ovation by a near capacity ground by the Rovers fans when he returned with Derby.
It was revealed by then Sunderland manager Roy Keane in his 2014 autobiography, that he had been given permission by Blackburn to sign Savage during the end of his time at Blackburn; however he was put off by Savage's "wazzup" voicemail, with Keane describing his thoughts after hearing this as "I can't be ******* signing that". On 9 January 2008, Savage joined Derby County for a fee of £1.5 million on a two-and-a-half-year contract, and later revealed that he had taken a pay cut to join Derby in his search for first-team football. As the number 8 shirt, which he had worn at previous clubs, was already allocated to then-captain Matthew Oakley, he took the number 44 shirt because the numbers add up to 8!! He was appointed the new Derby captain after Oakley was sold to Leicester, and he skippered the Derby side in his first match, a 1–0 home defeat to Wigan Athletic.
Derby County
Rumours of Savage leaving Derby came in July 2008 when he missed out on every pre-season match. In August, Leicester City chairman Milan Mandaric declared an interest in Savage, which was dismissed by Derby. Paul Jewell repeatedly left Savage out of the team, after Derby's poor start to the 2008–2009 season, and he was replaced as captain by Alan Stubbs, who was forced to retire shortly into the new season through injury. But Savage was not considered for the role due to not being in the first team, and the armband went to Paul Connolly.
After failing to break back into the first team, Savage was sent out on loan in October to Brighton for a month to keep match fit. He would later reveal one year later, in a build-up to a match between Leicester and Derby County, that he had tried to secure a loan deal to Leicester City, who had declared an interest in him months earlier). Following Jewell's resignation as Derby manager, Savage found himself brought back into first team contention by new manager Nigel Clough, who made him first choice in central midfield.
Savage signed a one-year extension to his Derby contract with the club on 10 August 2009 to take him through to the end of the 2010–11 season. The next day, he was named in the Championship Select Team of the Week for his performance in the opening day victory over Peterborough Utd. Later that month, Savage was renamed as Captain of Derby County, replacing Paul Connolly, who manager Nigel Clough wanted to "concentrate on his own game". In response, Savage said that: "I did not deserve the captaincy when I first came to the club. I was handed it from the first day and I shouldn't have been. It was too much pressure for me and I had a nightmare. I let it get to me. I think I'm ready for it now. I feel more comfortable with it now." Derby struggled once again during the season, not achieving safety until the 44th fixture, but the season was a personal success for Savage as he appeared in all but one of Derby's 51 league and cup fixtures during the campaign, the match which he missed being due to suspension, starting 49 of them. Savage also won the club's own Player of the Year award,
Savage started in the Derby first XI in the 2010–11 season in a new 4–2–3–1, although Derby got off to a poor start winning just one of their opening seven league games, with Savage's form making fans question the justification for his place in the team and his status as skipper. He made his 100th appearance for the club in a 2–2 draw against QPR before he was dropped to the bench for a 1–1 draw at Barnsley, the first game he had played no part in for Derby (barring unavailability for selection) since Nigel Clough's arrival as manager in January 2009.
Savage played in goal for Derby on 11 March 2010, when keeper, Stephen Bywater, was taken off with a back injury against Reading. He let in two goals during his 45 minutes in the Derby goal.
On 16 October 2010, Savage played his 600th career match in a 3–0 victory on Preston NE, scoring an injury-time penalty to seal the win. Savage stating: "One thing is for sure, I will be leaving Derby County at the end of the season, if not before, even if they offer me a new contract. My time is up here. I've thoroughly enjoyed my time with Derby and I want to walk away with my head held high". One fan responded by telephoning Savage during an interview on BBC Radio Live 5 and telling him to "leave the club now" and "take young Mr. Clough with him". Savage eventually rejected the move, stating it was too big a move for his family. On 31 January 2011, Savage announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season to concentrate on his growing media career. In his last two games, a home loss against Bristol City and an away defeat at Reading, he was met with a round of applause and a standing ovation from both sets of supporters.
On 24 November 2019, Savage came out of retirement to join Stockport Town of the North West Counties League. He made his league debut for the club the following evening, as an 80th-minute substitute in a 3–2 victory over FC Oswestry Town. That was his only appearance.
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