How to win the league-booze and fags

[topgoon]

Former Arsenal greats Ray Parlour and Nigel Winterburn have told an online chat show about the extent of the drinking culture at the club and how it did not stop them from doing the Double.


Ray Parlour has revealed the full extent of the once-notorious drinking culture at Arsenal and told how Steve Bould, who is now the club’s assistant manager, once ordered a mammoth 35-pint round for five team-mates during Arsène Wenger’s first summer as manager in 1997.


“I’ll always remember the first pre-season tour with Arsène Wenger,” Parlour said. “New French lads had come into the team like Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit and Gilles Grimandi. We worked our socks off and at the end of the trip Wenger said we could all go out. You know what we were like, we went straight down to the pub and the French lads went to the coffee shop.


“I’ll always remember the moment Steve Bould went up to the bar and ordered 35 pints for five of us. After we left the bar we spotted all the French lads in the coffee shop and they were sitting around smoking.


“I thought, ’How are we going to win the league this year? We’re all drunk and they’re all smoking’. We ended up winning the double that year.”


During an appearance on Thursday on online sports chat show Sportlobster TV, Parlour and former team-mate Nigel Winterburn also described the antics of the old ‘Tuesday Club’ and how Wenger ended the drinking culture.
On a Monday, Wednesday and Thursday people were dressed in tracksuits,” Parlour said. “On a Tuesday everyone turned up with their suits on. George [Graham] was trying to work out what was going on – but we were obviously going out on the town.”

Winterburn added: “It all stopped really when Arsène Wenger put a ban on drink being served in the lounge, and then Tony [Adams, the former captain] gave up drinking.”

Parlour defended Jack Wilshere following the Arsenal midfielder’s apology earlier this season for being photographed out smoking.

“Ten or 15 years ago that would never have happened,” Parlour said. “He probably didn’t even drink that night, he’s only had an odd cigarette and it won’t do him that much damage. I used to go down the pub with all the supporters when we won a game at Highbury. I loved it and it wasn’t a problem.”

Wenger is credited with revolutionising the preparation of players and their diet, not just at Arsenal, which are considered crucial as squads face increasingly demanding fixture schedules.



I know this is old news but just found it today and thought it was hilarious.

[BournemouthRED]

quality

[QuartzGooner]

Please post a link to the source of the article Topgoon.

[topgoon]

Please post a link to the source of the article Topgoon.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... ouble.html

[Steve_I]

Please post a link to the source of the article Topgoon.

Not sure about a link to the article but watched the interview recently, and it's here http://www.youtube.com/user/sportlobster

Scroll down to week 3

[topgoon]

Just think those kind of characters are needed in any team.

Ray Parlour from all the stories he says sounds like he was brilliant to have around. The kind of player that lifts the mood in the dressing room but is still a good player on the pitch and with a hint of a nasty streak to stick up for the younger players or the more quiet ones.

A combo of Eboue/Flamini/Rambo all in one player would be brilliant to have in our squad right now.

[QuartzGooner]

Thanks Topgoon.

Keeps it safe for the website, otherwise we can get done for plagiarism.

Have met Ray Parlour.
He has stories for days.
In fact one can barely shut him up!

On the pitch he had positional intelligence, knew where to be to intercept or provide an option for an opponent.

Out of our midfielders I think Flamini and Rosicky have that, Arteta does too but is less physical than Parlour.

Ramsey has some of it too this season, and has that great engine of Parlour's too.

[Henry Norris 1913]

pity hitzlsberger retired then

[DB10GOONER]

Thanks Topgoon.

Keeps it safe for the website, otherwise we can get done for plagiarism.

Have met Ray Parlour.
He has stories for days.
In fact one can barely shut him up!

On the pitch he had positional intelligence, knew where to be to intercept or provide an option for an opponent.

Out of our midfielders I think Flamini and Rosicky have that, Arteta does too but is less physical than Parlour.

Ramsey has some of it too this season, and has that great engine of Parlour's too.

Don't agree about Flamini, Quartz. He's a hustling hard working runner that has a role to play in this current team, adds steel to the midfield, has heart and guts, but he is quite limited technically, has very little tactical or positional sense and tends to rely on reacting to situations rather than anticipating and dictating, which is something Rosicky and particularly Arteta both do well.

For me Romford was the most underated Arsenal player ever. He was a technically good footballer, better than most media pundits ever gave him credit for, had a dinger of a shot on him, had bags of energy and good old fashioned grit, was fearless and would sacrifice himself for the team. Wasn't a johnny big bollocks either. This is a guy that won almost everything in a long career at the top, keeping his own with world class talent like Henry, Bergkamp and Vieira but didn't act like a crunt. The anti-Frimpong, if you will.