Tom Stokes was called up to teach Liverpool FC's foreign legion the Queen's English so they never had to "talk alone" on the pitch.

Tom, 29, from Church Road, Hove, spent a year at Anfield helping top Premiership stars such as Vladimir Smicer, Patrick Berger and Titi Camara learn the local lingo.

He was drafted in because manager Gerard Houllier was worried that his foreign players couldn't communicate properly during matches.

Tom, a Liverpool fan since the age of four, jumped at the chance to become part of the Anfield experience after teaching English in the Czech Republic and France.

With both Smicer and Berger from the Czech Republic, and Camara a French-speaking African, Tom was the perfect man for the job.

He taught them the manager's instructions, all the terms needed in training and the phrases required for media interviews, plus a few classics including "I'm as sick as a parrot", "I'm over the moon", "On my head, son" and "Man on".

Smicer was so impressed he asked Tom if he would teach Scouser Robbie Fowler to speak English as well because they didn't have a clue what he was talking about.

Tom was paid £50 an hour, holding lessons at the palatial homes of the players, who probably earned £15,000 to £20,000 a week.

He also got free tickets for Anfield matches but after a year the glamour wore off and he decided to quit teaching and go into journalism.

Tom said the idea of starting a language school for soccer players resulted from a discussion over a few pints in the pub.

He was invited for an interview at Anfield, held in the stands while the players trained on the pitch below.

Tom said: "They varied in their ability to learn. Smicer was a very good student. He did his homework on the team bus on his way to away matches and the other players used to take the mickey out of him.

"Berger spoke with a slight Scouse accent but Camara didn't learn much. In fact, I had a chat with Houllier about Camara because he wasn't settling in very well. I taught their wives or girlfriends as well."

Tom, now a sub-editor on The Argus, was offered a similar post at Tottenham but said: "The glamour of it wears off pretty soon. I enjoyed the job but it wasn't something I wanted to do for a long time.

"I could have carried on but I had already thought about getting out of teaching and into journalism."