Ray Parlor stole his mother's Christmas present but ended up helping the police return it to her
Former Arsenal star Ray Parlor is known for telling a good story, whether on or off the pitch.
It turns out that it even has a Christmas character.
The 51-year-old told the talkSPORT presenter: Alan Brazilhow his quest to buy his mother a Christmas present wasn't stopped by his need for a pint.
Parlor said: “We were in a place called 'Palms'. Which is in Hornchurch.
Brazil laughed when Parlor named the establishment.
“If you get divorced they don't give you anything, that's why I went in there.
“You didn't have to pay to get in. We were 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 have to go get my mom a gift, she'll go crazy.' I can't give him money, I have to work a little to get him a gift.
“Anyway, that's the only time, obviously, around Christmas and birthdays, when she wants a preset. So I was there one Christmas Eve and Tony said: 'Well, we'll have a few and then go, I can go to Romford and get something no problem.'
“You know how it is, it's a great atmosphere, we're laughing a lot, a few more pints, a few more pints, I don't think we were playing on Boxing Day or anything, that's why we were there.
“And we kept drinking, and suddenly I looked at the clock, and it was like six, and I thought, 'Oh no, the stores have closed.'
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“Those days they close at six. What am I going to go? And there was a big pot right in front of us, and Tony said, 'Does your mom like pots?' I said, 'Well, it looks pretty good.' I mean, I'd like to have that as a default.'”
Brazil asked, “How big was it?”
Parlor responded: “It was huge. So Tony and I carried it out.”
“No, please, no,” Brazil laughed, the thought of Parlor and Adams bringing out the rather large pot is enough to make anyone laugh.
“We both carried it out and put it in my car that was outside,” Parlor continued.
“We put it in the boot of my car and then went back to the pub. We went back in and had a few more pints, obviously I wasn't going to drive home, I was going to leave my car there, but I knew I had a Christmas present for my mum.
“Anyway, at eight or nine we left this pub. Suddenly all the police were around my car, so the guy, the owner of the Palms Hotel, the manager, had seen us leaving with the flower pot.
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“Was it a palm tree?” Brazil joked.
“Then the next minute the police said, 'Okay.' Now I helped them back, I took him to the Palms hotel, I dropped him off, my mom didn't get any gifts that day.
“The police have not stopped us, but they have told us: 'Okay, you will have to come to the police station on Tuesday.' Tony and me.
“So after training, obviously George Graham never heard about this. I said, 'Tone, we have to go to Harold Hill police station to see what's going to happen.'
“We came down after training, walked in and that's exactly what the cop said: 'Here come Bill and Ben.'”
The pot men (Parlour and Adams) played together at Arsenal for 10 years and formed a great friendship.
Parlor became known as '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 made ten appearances for England in 1999 and 2000.
