Neil Ruddock

Neil Ruddock (born 9 May 1968), nicknamed Razor Ruddock is an English former professional footballer, actor and television personality. As a player he played as a central defender from 1986 to 2003.

He made his debut at Millwall (having been associated with the club since age 13), and he had a long career playing for Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton, Liverpool, West Ham, Crystal Palace, and finally a short-lived spell as a player/coach at Swindon Town (working under Director of Football Roy Evans in a two-tier managerial structure). He was capped once by England.

Club career

Southampton

Ruddock joined Southampton in February 1989 in a £200,000 transfer from Millwall.^[1] A rugged, uncompromising defender, he soon became popular with the Southampton fans especially after confidently tucking away a penalty against Newcastle United on 1 April in only his sixth game for the club, thus helping the "Saints" earn their first victory in 18 matches and start Southampton on a climb away from the relegation zone. His goal celebration after the 89th minute penalty became known as the "Ruddock stomp". (Ruddock missed his next two penalties allowing Matt Le Tissier to take over for the next season.^[2])

Despite early disciplinary problems at The Dell, Ruddock's talents as a confident, left-footed defender earned him England Under-21 honours. Powerful in the air, he could tackle strongly but was also able to bring the ball forward out of defence.^[1]

In the 1991-92 season, Ruddock was a member of the Southampton side that reached the final of the Zenith Data Systems Cup, where they were beaten in extra time 3–2 by Nottingham Forest.^[3]

After three years on the South Coast, he was enticed back to Tottenham by Terry Venables in May 1992, with the tribunal setting the transfer fee at a "ridiculous" £750,000.^[1]

Liverpool

Ruddock was signed by Liverpool from Tottenham Hotspur on a £2,5 million transfer.^[4] Whilst at Liverpool, Ruddock was famously involved in an on-field scuffle with Manchester United star Eric Cantona. Ruddock responded to Cantona's taunts about his weight by turning down the Frenchman's collar (in his after dinner speaking, Ruddock says of the incident- "trust me to pick the only Frenchman around who wanted a tear-up"). Ruddock was never far from controversy in his time at Liverpool, with tabloids highlighting his personal weight problems, parenting issues,^[5] womanizing,^[6] marital issues and drink driving infringements, including an infamous incident involving his "Porsche and a blonde".^[7] In 1995, he was absolved of fracturing Peter Beardsley's jaw with an elbow in a testimonial match, to which Beardsley contemplated legal action on the grounds that Ruddock acted deliberately, but later decided to withdraw charges.^[8] In 1996, Ruddock's tackle on Andrew Cole of Manchester United in a reserve game at Anfield left the player with two broken legs, and Ruddock claimed innocence, while Cole said he believed Ruddock did not intend harm.^[9] However, in a 2010 interview with Talksport, he jokingly refers to the incident that resulted in Cole suffering two broken legs in 1997 as "not big, and not clever", adding "but it was great", and that "I didn't mean to break both of his legs if I'm honest, I only meant to break one".^[10]

Arguably his finest game for Liverpool came on 20 January 1996, when he scored twice for them in a 5-0 home league win over Leeds United.^[11]

At Liverpool, Ruddock was also part of the squad of the 1990s under Roy Evans, known infamously as the "Spice Boys", that included the likes of David James, Robbie Fowler, Jamie Redknapp, Jason McAteer, Steve McManaman and Stan Collymore, but left in 1998 just as new coach Gérard Houllier embarked on a French revolution at Anfield.

West Ham United

In July 1998 Ruddock moved to West Ham United for a fee of £300,000 making his debut on 15 August 1998 in a 1-0 away win against Sheffield Wednesday.^[12] In October 1999 whilst playing for West Ham, Ruddock was also involved in a bust-up with Arsenal's Patrick Vieira, with Vieira receiving a six-match ban and a £30,000 fine after spitting at Ruddock after some verbal sparring between the two.^[13]

In 56 games for West Ham he scored three goals, was booked 14 times and sent-off once, in December 1998, in a 4-0 away defeat to Leeds United, for a dangerous tackle on Harry Kewell. The Hammers finished fifth in the Premier League that season - their highest finish for 13 years - and qualified for the UEFA Cup to end a 19-year absence from European competitions.^[14]

Swindon Town

In 2000, Ruddock moved to Crystal Palace on a free transfer, spending one season there before signing for Division Two side Swindon Town, where his appearance made him an instant cult figure.^{[citation needed]} He scored twice for Swindon, with goals against Colchester in the league^[15] and Hartlepool in the FA Cup.^[16] Relations turned sour when Ruddock refused to quit after being advised to do so by a specialist; during a period of time where the club was in serious financial difficulties. The club responded by appointing Steve Coppell as assistant manager and taking Ruddock's coaching duties away. The board eventually stopped paying Ruddock's wages in an attempt to drive him out. He took the club to an employment tribunal and in December 2002 received £57,000, representing money lost in wages and loyalty payments, with an agreement to terminate his contract as player-manager.^[17]

He was also accused by Crystal Palace chairman, Simon Jordan in November 2005, of "taking the team out and getting them wasted when we were fighting relegation."^[18]

International career

He won four caps for the England Under-21 squad and one in 1994 for England B when he captained the team against Ireland B at Anfield. On 16 November 1994 he won his only cap for England, playing in a friendly against Nigeria when Terry Venables was national coach.^[19]

Throughout his career he battled with weight problems and was often criticised for being unfit; this is often thought to be one of the reasons he only ever gained one full cap for England.^{[citation needed]}

Honours

Southampton

• Full Members Cup finalist: 1992

Liverpool

• Football League Cup winner: 1995

Television career

He has appeared on A Question of Sport numerous times and was guest captain on 7 May 2004 edition.^{[citation needed]} In 2004, he appeared on the third series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!.^[20] He exploited this by recording a charity single, a version of Jungle Rock, with fellow contestants Lord Brocket, Peter Andre and Mike Read, recording as The Jungle Boys.^[21]

In 2006, he was involved in the television programme Razor Ruddock's Pass & Move Soccer School where children released by academies were coached by Ruddock.^[22]

In 2006, Ruddock helped produce Football Saved My Life a reality sports TV show for Bravo which attempted to change the lives of fifteen dysfunctional men through their involvement with football.^[20] Ruddock appeared on an episode of ITV's Fat Friends as John Fudd, where he helped save the life of a pregnant woman.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008, Ruddock appeared on The Jeremy Kyle Show, talking about how his football career had affected his personal life, including his alcoholism and debauchery.^[23]

In 2011, he appeared in Celebrity Total Wipeout on BBC1, coming last.^{[citation needed]} In November 2011, he appeared in James May's Man Lab on BBC2, coaching James May on how to score a penalty kick in front of 20,000 Germans at the Homelands, Ashford, Kent. James May missed the penalty.^[24]

Personal life

During Ruddock's early life, he lived in Ashford, Kent with his family. His family remain local to the Ashford area, and Ruddock is frequently seen in the local area. His nickname of "Razor" is taken from the boxer Donovan Ruddock's nickname. Donovan Ruddock's boxing career peaked at the same time Neil Ruddock was playing football.^{[citation needed]}

References

External links

• Liverpool FC profile
• LFCHistory.net profile
• Ruddock Neil Ruddock career stats at Soccerbase
• Neil Ruddock England profile at Englandstats
• England profile