'Joining Arsenal made me feel like an impostor - I confided in my dad over fears'

Lee Dixon has opened up about his initial insecurities when he joined - confessing to feeling like an "impostor" after signing for the club. The Gunners legend, who became a key part of the club's renowned defence alongside stars like David Seaman, Nigel Winterburn, Tony Adams, and Steve Bould, spent 14 years at Highbury after transferring from in 1988 for £375,000.

Despite a slow start and the challenge of displacing Kenny Sansom as left-back, Dixon's career flourished, leading to four league titles, three FA Cups, and victory in the European Cup Winners' Cup.

Yet, despite these successes, Dixon harboured doubts when he first arrived in north London. He revealed to Seaman on the podcast, sponsored by, that heart-to-heart talks with his father helped him overcome his concerns about playing at the highest level, reports .

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"I always felt as if I was a bit of an impostor," Dixon confessed to Seaman. "I'll never forget talking to my dad. I signed for Arsenal and I said to him, 'Honestly, I need to get my head right because I don't think I'm going to be able to do this.'

"And he's like, 'What do you mean?' I said, 'It's Arsenal and I'm playing for Stoke. I'm quite happy there in the Second Division (or Championship as it is now), but Arsenal, I can't play there!' And he went, 'Just get one game under your belt.' And I was like, 'Right.'

"So I made my debut and I said to him, 'What happens now?' And he goes, 'you do 10 [games]'. That season, I played six because I was cup-tied. I couldn't play in the cup final. So I did the 10 the following season. And then I said, 'What now?' And he goes, 'Now we do 30.' He kept giving me these targets, so I churned 30 games out."

After a fantastic 20-year professional career, 14 years of which he dedicated to Arsenal, Dixon reminisced on how racking up 619 appearances for his former side arrived sooner than anticipated.

"And I'll never forget, and bless him, he died 18 months ago, and I miss him dearly, but the last game I played, which was 619, I said, 'Dad, it's my last game tomorrow. I'm retiring.' And he went, 'F***ing hell, what are we gonna do for 620?' And it went so quickly. It went from one to 619 [games] in the blink of an eye."

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