Ex-Arsenal ace thought he was 'going to die' on boozy night out with Ray Parlour

08 February 2023 , 14:18

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Ray Parlour (right) during his Arsenal heyday (Image: PA)

Former Arsenal star Gilles Grimandi was left fearing he was "going to die" after joining Gunners team-mate Ray Parlour on a night out.

French defender Grimandi joined the Gunners in 1997, ahead of Arsene Wenger's first full season as manager. He had previously played under Wenger at Monaco, and Arsenal was his first taste of English football.

While the manager made a lot of changes during his time in north London, including players' preparations off the pitch, there were still a few traditions remaining from the old days. The boozy 'Tuesday Club' nights disappeared early in Wenger's tenure, but there was still the occasional instance of new recruits getting a taste of what happened before his arrival.

"I was only starting to speak English but I like good company so wanted to go," Grimandi told The Sun. “I went one day and I met many good drinkers. I said to Ray soon after, ‘I need to go home or I am going to die!’ Ray was laughing.

“I was very surprised. Another day, a French player was smoking and the English players were shocked. Yet the day before they were totally drunk and it wasn’t shocking. We had very different approaches to drinking and smoking.”

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Grimandi spent five years at Highbury, winning the Premier League in 1998 and 2002 and playing more than 100 Premier League games for the Gunners. He also added two FA Cup winner's medals, and was on the bench for the UEFA Cup final in 2000 as Wenger's team were beaten on penalties by Galatasaray.

After retiring, the former centre-back - who could also play in midfield - returned to Arsenal as a scout. He spent more than a decade in the role before moving back to France to take a technical director role with Nice, but spent less than a year in the position.

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Gilles Grimandi spent five years on Arsenal's books (The People)

In 2016, as Wenger approached the 20-year mark at the club, former left-back Nigel Winterburn shed some more light on the changes made by the French coach. “He had already introduced subtle changes,” Winterburn said.

“For a start, the players' bar stopped alcohol after matches," he added. He made us eat an hour after the game.

"A lot has been made about the diet he introduced at the training ground and the supplements and tablets. To be honest, that didn't have too much of an effect on me.

"I mean, you can dictate what players eat at the training ground but there is nothing you can do once they leave, is there? No, it was the attention to detail that really impressed me."

Tom Victor