'They were furious' – I scored a hat-trick on my debut for Arsenal despite partying until 6am in an FHM binge.

The opportunity to make your first start in professional football is what any player dreams of, unless you've been partying all night.

That's what happened to Jermaine Pennant after Arsene Wenger gave him his full debut.

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Pennant was a talented young player from North London and had made six substitute appearances under Wenger.

But with intense competition for places Robert PiresFreddie Ljungberg and Ray Loungeexits were always going to be difficult to get.

The history books will tell you that the winger's first start for the Gunners was a memorable occasion after scoring a hat-trick in the 6-1 win over Southampton in May 2003.

However, speaking with Jamie O'HaraPennant revealed this wasn't the whole story after being invited to a glamorous FHM party the night before.

speaking in The sports barPennant said: “If you don't know, FHM was a fantastic magazine – top-notch, top-notch. Unreal.

“They had a party on Friday and you can imagine what kind of party it will be and all the boys will go.

“All the boys went; Ash (Ashley Cole) went, but he wasn't on the team. For some reason he was resting, so he wasn't in the squad to face Southampton and had the weekend off.

“I was on the team and that's all I knew. My name was on the list and that's why I had to show up at 11:30 at the hotel.

“I've never been a starter, so I think: 'Nothing is going to change here'; At best I will be on the bench and come out for the last five minutes.

“I was thinking, 'Is it worth it?' And then I thought 'yeah, it's the FHM party, it'll be worth it!'

“The guys tell me: 'Don't do it, don't do it, you're going to start' and I think not at all. They've got Ljungberg, they've got Pires and they've even got Ray (Parlour) there, so no chance.

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“I thought: I'll be there at 12; I wouldn't be asleep at 12 anyway.

“So I walked out, they (my teammates) were furious, they ignored me for a moment because they were furious.

“I walked in and I was bouncing and I thought 'I'll have a cheeky one' but the next thing you know it's 4am and the drinks were already out: tequilas, sambucas and I'm in at half past six.

“I get in at six-thirty and I have to show up at 11, so I get about three hours of sleep before I have to get up and I get there and I'm like, 'Oh my God, what have you done?' I've finished now!'

“Arsene tries to talk to me and I look away so he doesn't smell the vodka, but I was 21, although I wouldn't recommend it.”

Asked how he felt when he saw he was starting, Pennant said: “I felt bad.

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“I thought I'd sit on the bench, drink a bunch of Lucozade and drink some electrolytes and a little water and recover that way.

“He pulled out the board and it said 'Pennant' and I looked at it twice because I thought it said 'Salon' but then I thought 'no, not this week!'

“So Patrick Vieira He's sitting next to me and he always looked out for me and said, 'Jermaine, this is your time,' and I was like, 'No, Pat, it's not, it's not, leave me out!'

“I was thinking what I could do to get substituted because I couldn't play 90 minutes in that state. I thought, could I pretend that my hamstring was gone after 20 minutes, but then I scored, so I thought I'd wait until half time.

“Then I scored a second and then I got a hat-trick and I thought, 'I'm staying' and no one noticed. Sorry, Arsene!”

Pennant made 26 appearances for Arsenal, 12 of which came after being named in the starting XI.

Incredibly, the winger scored just three goals for the Gunners during his career, meaning all of his goals for the club came that afternoon, when he was still feeling the effects of that night out.

Maybe I should party more often!