Ray Parlour stole Christmas present for his mum but ended up helping police give it back

Former Arsenal star Ray Parlour is known for telling a good story, whether that’s on or off the pitch.

Turns out he even has some of a Christmassy nature. 

3

The 51-year-old told fellow talkSPORT host, Alan Brazil, how his quest to buy his Mum a Christmas present wasn’t stopped by his need for a pint. 

Parlour said: “We were in a place called ‘Palms.’ Which is in Hornchurch.” 

Brazil laughed when Parlour named the establishment. 

“If you’ve been divorced you get in for nothing, that’s why I went in there.

“You didn’t have to pay to get in. We was in there one day and I was with Tony Adams and, after training I think it was Christmas Eve. 

“And I said to Tony, ‘Tone I’ve got to go get my Mum a present, she’ll go mad. I can’t give her money, I have to make a little bit of effort, to get her a present. 

“Anyway, that’s the only time obviously, Christmas time and birthdays, is when she wants a preset. So I was in there one Christmas Eve and Tony went, ‘Right, we’ll have a few and then we’ll go, I can go into Romford and get something no problem.’ 

“You know what it’s like, it’s a great atmosphere, we’re having a right laugh, few more pints, few more pints, I don’t think we were playing Boxing Day or something, that’s why we were in there. 

“And we carried on drinking, and all of a sudden I looked at the clock, and it was like six o’clock, I’m thinking: ‘Oh no, the shops have closed.’ 

3

“Them days they’re closed at six. What am I gonna go? And there was a big plant pot right in front of us, and Tony went, ‘Does your mum like plant pots?’ I went: ‘Well, it looks quite nice. I mean I would like that as a preset.’”

Brazil asked: “How big was it?”

Parlour responded: “It was huge. So me and Tony carried it out.”

“No please no,” Brazil laughed, the thought of Parlour and Adams carrying out the rather large plant pot is enough to make anyone laugh. 

“We both carried it out and put it in my car that was outside,” Parlour continued. 

“We put it in the boot of my car and then went back in the pub. We went back in and had a few more pints, obviously, I wasn’t driving home, I was gonna leave my car there but I knew I had my mum a Christmas present. 

“So anyway, eight/nine o’clock we walked out of this pub. All of a sudden all the police were around my car, so the guy, the owner of the Palms Hotel, the manager, had seen us walk out with the plant pot. 

3

“Was it a palm tree?” Brazil joked. 

“So, next minute, the police have said: ‘Right okay.’ Now I’ve helped them back in, I’ve carried it back into the Palms Hotel, put it back down, my Mum didn’t get a present that day.

“The police haven’t arrested us, but they’ve said: ‘Right, you’ll have to come to the police station Tuesday.’ Me and Tony. 

“So after training, obviously George Graham never heard about this. I said: ‘Tone, we’ve gotta go down to Harold Hill police station to see what’s going to happen.’ 

“We go down after training, we walk in, and that’s exactly what the policeman said: ‘Here comes Bill and Ben.’”

The flower pot men (Parlour and Adams) played alongside each other at Arsenal for 10 years and formed quite the friendship. 

Parlour became known as the ‘The Romford Pele’ during his time at the Gunners. 

He joined the club as a trainee in 1985, aged 12, and made his debut for Arsenal against Liverpool on 29 January 1992. 

He played 66 games for Arsenal and scored 32 goals. 

He won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and the 1994 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. He played ten games for England in 1999 and 2000.