Back in the 1990s, few players relished a battle more than Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock.
The former Tottenham and Liverpool defender - who FourFourTwo ranked at no.9 on a list of the hardest players of the 1990s - was as uncompromising as they came and revelled in a physical battle.
Another of that era’s big personalities on the pitch was Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright, who provided the opposition for one of the games that changed the centre-back’s life.
Ruddock on his 1993 Ian Wright run-in
Ruddock spent the 1992/93 season at Tottenham, when manager Terry Venables brought him back to White Hart Lane following spells with Millwall and Southampton.
Venables had led Spurs to an FA Cup final victory over Nottingham Forest two years prior and had them knocking on the door again in April 1993, when they faced local rivals Arsenal in a Wembley semi-final.
Wright was on his way to a 30-goal season in all competitions that year and it fell to Ruddock to stop the Gunners star man.
“Tony Adams scored,” Ruddock recalls to FourFourTwo, speaking in association with Old Gold Racing while discussing the games that changed his life.
“We lost 1-0 in a North London derby, FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal. We should have had a penalty – Darren Anderton got brought down but the referee panicked and gave us a corner.
“That game sticks in my head because everybody wanted to play in the FA Cup final and that was our big chance. We played well.
“I was marking Ian Wright and kicked him all round Wembley, which I LOVED – put that in capitals in case he reads it! We later became room-mates at West Ham – he used to jump on me and beat me up in the middle of the night, so he got his own back on me!”
Wright would end up getting his FA Cup winners’ medal that season, with Arsenal eventually defeating Sheffield Wednesday but only after a replay and extra-time in which the England striker scored in both matches.
