Ray Parlour

Arsenal

Parlour is most famous for his time at Arsenal, where he played for fifteen years. He joined the club as a trainee in 1985, aged 12, and made his debut for the Gunners against Liverpool on 29 January 1992, conceding a penalty in a 2–0 defeat. Just 5 more appearances followed that year but the following season he began to feature more regularly and made starting appearances in the 1993 League Cup and FA Cup finals of which Arsenal won both. In the 1993–94 season he made 32 appearances and then rose to greater prominence in 1994–95 when he took part in Arsenal's European UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final loss to Real Zaragoza (having been an unused substitute in the Gunners' 1–0 triumph over Parma in 1993–94). After the arrival of Arsène Wenger as Arsenal's manager in 1996, he became a regular fixture on the right wing or in central midfield. In 1997–98 Arsenal won the Double, and Parlour was instrumental in his club's achievement: he was man-of-the-match in the Gunners' FA Cup Final win over Newcastle United, setting up Nicolas Anelka for the second goal in a 2–0 win. His increasing success in his Gunners shirt did not, however, secure him a place in England's 1998 World Cup squad, coach Glenn Hoddle preferring Spurs' Darren Anderton instead. In March 2000, he hit a hat-trick in a 4–2 away win at Werder Bremen (6–2 aggregate) in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals. He was the only Arsenal player successful from the penalty spot in the team's shoot-out defeat by Galatasaray…

Parlour made his debut for the England under-21 team on 12 May 1992; he played the whole game as England drew 2–2 with Hungary in a friendly. He was a part of the squads that participated in the Toulon Tournament in 1992 and 1994, England would ultimately win the tournament in 1994 with Parlour playing in the final against Portugal. Parlour won the Prix Spécial award for his performances in the tournament., Overall, he appeared for the U21s on twelve occasions without scoring any goals. On 10 February 1998, he played for the B-team in a 1–0 loss to Chile at The Hawthorns. He made his senior team debut as a substitute in a UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier against Poland on 27 March 1999; he won ten caps for England altogether, without ever scoring any goals. The closest he came to one was in a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Finland on 11 October 2000, when he 'scored' with a spectacular 30-yard strike which hit the crossbar and crossed the goal-line but was incorrectly disallowed by a linesman, the match finishing 0–0. He did not feature in any tournament finals, a knee injury forcing him to withdraw from England's squad for Euro 2000. His final cap came in a friendly against Italy on 15 November 2000. He was called up into the squad several times by new manager Sven-Göran Eriksson in 2001, but was never sent onto the pitch. Parlour's lack of England appearances despite his domestic successes (particularly in comparison to some of his contemporaries) was remarked upon. Parlour…

Parlour began his career as a pundit with Setanta Sports in 2007. He has since appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live and Talksport. In 2019 and 2020, Parlour featured in both seasons of ITV show Harry's Heroes, which featured former football manager Harry Redknapp attempting get a squad of former England international footballers back fit and healthy for a game against Germany legends.

Parlour and his wife Karen were a couple from their early youth, although they did not get married until 1998. They have three children. Their separation in 2001 led to a very high-profile divorce.