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HARRY GETS CHEEKY
PLAYING alongside Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Patrick Vieira in his Arsenal heyday, Ray Parlour thought he’d seen French football in all its glory.
But that’s until he faced the No1 male nude five-a-side team in Paris during the new ITV series of Harry’s Heroes.
Speaking about the strangest match of his career to The Sun, Ray said: “It was a very weird experience.
“I’ve never come up against anything like that before, it was certainly an eye opener.
“They were decent players as well - they could definitely hold their own on the pitch.”
His manager Harry Redknapp, 73, added: “They were quite good footballers, they were young, very fit.
“You wouldn’t take your clothes off if you weren’t fit would you.”
The former Spurs and West Ham boss is reunited with his squad of ex-England internationals including Matt Le Tissier, Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock, Lee Sharpe, David Seaman and Paul Merson in Harry Heroes: Euro Having a Laugh, which kicks off on Monday and runs for three consecutive evenings.
After last year’s famous 4-2 win against the Germans at Brisbane Road, the home of Leyton Orient, Harry’s tasked with whipping his side into shape for a rematch, this time on enemy soil, and as part of their preparations they tour France and Italy, where they also take on perennial minnows San Marino.
He quickly discovers gym work and a lifestyle overhaul is needed once again as the squad return a combined seven and a half stone heavier compared to their last outing.
Former Newcastle midfielder Rob Lee, 54, and Southampton legend Le Tissier, 51, put on the most weight, one and a half stone each.
Harry ranted: “This is a disaster. The lads have put on 48 kilos, seven and a half stone in old money, all our hard work from last year is going down the drain. This is bigger than football.”
And not helping matters was the players’ enthusiasm for lifting pints over weights.
Last year in Harry’s Heroes: The Full English, the ex-pros were caught adding spirits to their soft drinks during meals and they didn’t pass up the opportunity of boozy bonding sessions on their European adventure.
Ray explains: “It was a great time, you miss that banter with the lads massively. It’s like being on a building site.
“But Harry’s Heroes brought it all back a bit, especially as we were away from home, living in hotels, mucking about, the boys having a few beers.
“In our era, the early nineties, everyone was on the beers - it was good for morale.
“Razor can put it away, he was the biggest drinker but I can have a few too.
“When we were in France we watched the rugby me, Razor, Lee Sharpe, Rob Lee and Lee Hendrie ended up having a few Jaeger Bombs.”
Ray was part of Arsenal’s famous Tuesday Club in the early nineties, along with captain and recovering alcoholic Tony Adams, who went on epic drinking sessions after training.
He says the squad’s love of North London boozers was the reason why none of the players had a celebrity girlfriend, unlike stars including David Beckham and Jamie Redknapp who played for rival clubs Manchester United and Liverpool at the time.
Ray explains: “We like the old fashioned pubs, we didn’t go to the right places.
“A lot of those girls would have gone to trendy nightclubs but we would start drinking in the afternoon.
“When all the women and celebrities were going out, we were stumbling home.
“Tony dated Caprice - but that was after he stopped drinking.
“We were all like, how did you pull her?”
There’s no doubt Harry still commands huge respect from his troops, particularly the ex-Gunners midfielder, who appreciates the fact the veteran manager is probably the only coach in world football who can update players on horse racing results mid-match.
Ray says: “Harry gave us a tip on a horse the night before the game and I put a few quid on it.
“The game had kicked off and I was on the right-hand side and I was shouting ‘Harry, how’s that horse doing?’
“He was listening to it on the bench while the game was going and told me it didn’t come in which was annoying.
“Luckily I didn’t put much money on it, I didn’t go mad.
“But that’s why he’s the one manager I’d have loved to have played under.”
They were joined on the trip by few special guests, former England strikers Teddy Sheringham and Michael Owen, and ex-Wimbledon midfielder turned actor Vinnie Jones, who gave Ray the same testicle crunching treatment he famously dished out to Paul Gascoigne in the late-Eighties.
But Vinnie wasn’t the only former hardman to roll back the years.
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The Sun revealed last Thursday Razor threatened to batter teetotal Merson in row over boozing.
Merse credits the first series for saving his life as he was battling a alcohol and gambling relapse at the time and told his old pal Razor, who is dangerously overweight, risks killing himself if he doesn’t cut down.
It’s a fear shared by Harry, who says:”Razor should look after himself, stop drinking loads of booze, stop
eating rubbish food all day and all night.
“It’s sad he is such a great guy, I love him, but he is a disaster waiting to happen.”
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On the skirmish, Ray says: “Merse was just going through a period of staying off the drink so they just clashed one night. But it was all forgotten about the next day.
“That happens when you’re away with people, that’s no big deal.
“They were man enough to shake their hands and that was the end of it.
“Lots of footballers are like that, I’ve lost count of the amount of times players have squared up to each other during training after a crunching tackle.”
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Away from the dressing room banter and Jagerbombs, there is a serious side to the three-part series.
The lads are hoping to encourage viewers of a similar age to get back into exercise.
The series was heralded last year after certain players bucked up the courage to open up about their problems, namely Merse who confided to team-mates about the return of his drink and gambling demons.
And Ray hopes the series will inspire its audience to be more open about mental health, plus the importance of fitness.
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The talkSPORT presenter adds: “At our ages now, when you’re nearing the 50 mark, that’s where you’ve got to be really careful and that’s what the programme is trying to get across to people out there.
“I know we’ve been sportsmen our entire lives but you can still go out there and do something.
“Hopefully we’ll encourage a few people out there to do a bit of exercise.”
- Harry’s Heroes: Euro Having A Laugh. From Monday 18th May to Wednesday 20th May at 9pm on ITV
Neil Ruddock and Paul Merson fall out over the ex-Tottenham star's drinking habit on Harry's Heroes: Euro Having A Laugh
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