Golden Gunners: Ray Parlour - the Romford Pele

"It's only Ray Parlour" - Tim Lovejoy

 

First up in our Golden Gunners series is a real favourite of mine - the Romford Pele, Ray Parlour.  In a recent poll, Ray was voted the 19th greatest player in the club's history (excluding current players) and in his thirteen years at the club he certainly won a lot of fans for his dynamic, passionate and hard-working displays.  He also won a lot of trophies; he was part of both double-winning teams and the 2003/4 invincibles team. He won three league titles, four FA cups, one league cup and a European Cup Winners' Cup in 466 appearance, scoring 32 goals along the way.

Ray Parlour earned himself one of the great football nicknames on the training ground; after a wonder goal, Marc Overmars dubbed him the Romford Pele and soon after dropped that gem in a press conference: "Of course we can win the league, we've got the Romford Pele!" Quite rightly, it caught on.

Parlour made his Arsenal debut as a 19 year old under George Graham who he cites as a major influence in his career but it was under Arsène Wenger that he really excelled. Finding a player of the calibre of Dennis Bergkamp training hard in the morning before the rest of the squad had arrived inspired him to work harder still. His development was no doubt further aided by Arsène Wenger's training regimes and through playing alongside some of the best players in the world.

Ray was loved by his teammates for his shenanigans off the pitch - he was central to the team morale and togetherness. In Martin Keown's last season at the club, the league was won but Keown needed a few more appearances to get his winners medal so for the last few games of the 2003/4 season Keown came on for a few minutes on the left wing to devastating effect... In the final game of the season at Highbury, two substitutes had been made and the third was of course expected to be Keown. Then Ray Parlour started warming up, pretending that Arsène had told him he was going on. The look on Keown's face was priceless until the Arsenal bench burst out laughing.

His pranks weren't always so well-received. When Glenn Hoddle, the then England manager sent Ray to see his spiritual healer, Eileen Drewery following a calf injury and she placed his hands on his shoulders he said: "short back and sides, please, Eileen.” He didn't play for England again, finishing his international career with just 10 caps, a number which definitely doesn't reflect his quality.

On the pitch he was a man for the big occasions and he had some pretty special moments, like this thunderbastard against Valencia and hat tricks against Werder Bremen and Newcastle. He also put in a man of the match display in the 1998 FA Cup Final against Newcastle with two assists. Those of you with great memories may also recall that he captained Arsenal to that incredible 5-1 win against Inter in the San Siro.

Of all the great moments that Ray Parlour produced, I think the one that sticks out the most was his glorious 25 yard curler against Chelsea in the 2002 cup final. 70 minutes into the game the deadlock was yet to be broken when Ray scored one of the greatest FA cup final goals to drive arsenal towards victory. A few days later the league was won at Old Trafford, with Parlour picking up another man of the match award, to complete a second Arsenal double in 4 years.  If Parlour had not have scored that all important first goal, we may well have lost that game but he did and it was fucking glorious.

Underestimate Ray Parlour at your peril. Just ask Tim Lovejoy...

If you would be like to share your thoughts on your favourite Gunners or any great Arsenal matches or moments then please do contact me at thomas@thegunshowblog.co.uk.