A former Arsenal player was left fearing for his life after getting caught up in a chaotic drinking session with several club legends. Gilles Grimandi enjoyed a successful five-year spell in north London after joining from Monaco in 1997. He helped the Gunners to win the Premier League and FA Cup in his first season, but one of his biggest memories came away from the pitch.
Grimandi was never a big drinker, but that did not stop him from joining a rowdy night out with some of Arsenal's most colourful characters. One fateful evening, he decided to hit the town with the so-called Tuesday Club, which involved heavy drinking sessions with the likes of Tony Adams, Lee Dixon, Paul Merson and Ray Parlour.
It ended up being a tough night for Grimandi, who quickly realised that he would not be able to keep up. He recalled his experience in an interview with The Sun, saying: "I was only starting to speak English, but I like good company so I wanted to go.
"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.”
Parlour, meanwhile, told a similar story about Grimandi which summed up the drinking culture at Arsenal during his time at the club.
Speaking on talkSPORT, the former Gunners playmaker said: "We go on pre-season and there was no drinking for 14 days. Imagine the British guys, we were gagging.
"On the last day, we had a meeting and Arsene Wenger said: 'You’ve been superb, you can do what you like tonight'. We’ve already seen the pub we’re going to. There were about five of us who’d seen this pub and couldn’t wait.
“Just before we are going to leave the hotel, Gilles Grimandi, one of the French guys, said: 'Can I come out with you guys?’. I said: 'Gilles, come out with us, you’ll have a much better time'.
"I know what the French guys will do. They’ll go to the coffee shop and talk about football. I said: 'No, Gilles, we’re going to the pub and going to have a good time'. So he comes along with us.
"Steve Bould was the biggest drinker by a mile, he was always at the front of the queue. He was at the bar and said: 'Hello Gilles, what do you want to drink?’ He said: 'Can I have a small glass of wine?’
"So Steve goes to the barman: 'Can I have 35 pints and one small glass of white wine?'. We had seven each and the first two didn’t touch the sides. Gilles was like: 'How can you drink so much and run around?'.
"We walk out of this bar after a quick seven pints and we’re going to another bar now. And all the French lads were at the coffee bar smoking.
"I thought: 'How are we going to win the league this year when we’re all drunk and they’re smoking?’. And we ended up winning the double."