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If Stan had the power to change one thing about football, he would eliminate racism. Coincidentally, Lazaridis voiced his opinion the day before the premierships more notorious Stan, a certain Mr Collymore, alleged he had been insulted by a fellow professional. The Australian Lazaridis has never had to absorb anything more disparaging than 'Put another shrimp on the barbie', the kind of remark which amuses rather than affronts him.

But looking further afield he feels disturbed by the more sinister bigoted barbs which poison the beautiful game. 'It has been kicked out to an extent, but you still get it, from country to country, from team to team. When I see someone, I don't judge them on what they look like; that doesn't matter to me - I judge them as a footballer', says Lazaridis, one of a vibrant spectrum of colours and creeds representing the claret and blue of West Ham United. Gone are the days when a player born outside East London was perceived as a foreigner at Upton Park, the days when Harry Redknapp was scurrying about in front of the Chicken Run. But gone, also, are the days when West Ham were dubbed the 'league of nations', when Redknapp enthusiastically raided the markets abroad like a modern-day Sir Walter Raleigh.Of his exotic crop of foreign spice, Slaven Bilic, Dani and Hugo Porfirio bloomed briefly, while Paulo Futre, Florin Raducioiu and Marco Boogers withered on these shores. Lazaridis was one of the few to survive. 'For me to prove myself I had to work a lot harder than someone who was already proven.For the likes of Paulo and Florin, who played at AC Milan and Atletico Madrid, there was not a lot of proving to do', he explains.

The hurdles he faced, though, were so forbidding he too almost fell by the wayside. The opening chapter of his West Ham career was miserable enough for him to contemplate an early exit. 'Initially it was horrible for me', admits the midfielder plucked from a university degree in human anatomy and biology, semi-professional football for West Adelaide, and temperatures topping 100 degrees. 'It was a completely different lifestyle. I don't like the cold, I was on my own, I didn't know anybody, it was hard to make friends'.

Speaking English doesn't preclude culture shock. Lazaridis is a gentle, modest character to whom cockiness doesn't come naturally, and being thrust into the macho-fuelled, banter-filled dressing room was daunting. 'I felt a bit left on the shelf', he says. 'You feel like you're stepping on people's toes, Oh sorry mate and sorry this and sorry that'. He seems too bashful to say XXXX to a goose, never mind to a boisterous, overbearing footballer who is part of the West Ham furniture. 'You've got to prove yourself as a footballer first' he adds. 'Once you can, you get accepted and then that allows your personality to blend in. In my first year, none of that was happening for me. I was trying, but you have to earn respect; you can't demand it'.

His cause was dealt a debilitating blow when he broke his leg after a handful of first team appearances. 'I think things happen for a reason and it was something that had to happen for me to get over and become stronger. A lot of the supporters wrote me cards saying they had seen enough of me to think I could be a good player for West Ham, and that spurred me on to get back to the top of my game and repay their faith'.

Now Lazaridis calls his life here 'brilliant', and team spirit 'fantastic'. He is a fixture in the team, damaging opposing defences with his fleet-footed bursts and fierce crosses. A few weeks ago at Newcastle he augmented his reputation with a thunderbolt of a match-winner from 40 yards.'Perhaps the wind helped it' he offers, blushing slightly. It was a strike which cemented his position in the team, and it was a strike infused with extra poignancy as his hero, who would have been proud of such a goal, watched from the sidelines. He supported Liverpool; and John Barnes, the man with a hypnotic left foot, was his favourite. Lazaridis used to watch him on Big League Soccer at 11 o'clock at night back home.The cult programme was a lifeline for football addicts in a nation where it lies behind Aussie Rules, cricket, rugby and basketball in the chart of popular sports. Lazaridis admits to owning a curious offshoot from the show: a figurine filled with bubble bath which plays the theme tune when you press a button in its back. Maybe Match of the Day is missing a trick.

Lazaridis is eager to play a part in boosting the game in Australia. This is a difficult time for the Socceroos, smarting from World Cup elimination at the hands of Iran and in limbo over Terry Venables' future plans. 'I think Terry wants the Premiership', concedes Lazaridis. 'He's a very talented man who needs to be back in the game here. He didn't want to leave the Australia job but it's four years until he can actually do something. I think he'll take it on a part-time basis and still do a job in England, that's what we're hoping. Terry lifted the profile of the game in Australia by his name alone and even though we got knocked out the World Cup, we proved we're good enough to play against the best by reaching the final of the Confederations Cup and beating teams like Uruguay and Mexico who qualified'.

Proud as Lazaridis is to play for his country, he feels he has reached a greater level of consistency for West Ham now that club momentum is not interrupted by Australia's World Cup commitments. 'The flight means you're in the air for a day and there were a couple of games where I wasn't feeling too well and was letting a few people down'. Not any more. His physical fitness and mental ambitiousness make him the type of foreigner who has the attributes for the English game. He will draw on those reserves in this afternoon's FA Cup quarter-final against Arsenal, particularly as his team are down to the bare bones in attack. 'They make hard work of it', he winces.'Last Monday I got away a couple of times but they were quick to pounce on you'.

The runner-up in the Oceanic Player of the Year award (that's a vast area to choose from) is desperate to get to Wembley, and he is driven by an extra motivation: 'My parents haven't been over yet and I'm hoping they can come for the FA Cup Final - if we get there'.

The man affectionately known at Upton Park as 'Skippy' feels bonded to the club now. 'It's a club that has a lot of passion that's striving to do well, that's starving for something like the FA Cup to prove it can be at the top', he says. With such a description, this Stan the man could be describing himself.

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