Arsenal legend Ray Parlour has revealed that he wanted more England caps than the 10 he managed during his successful career, though he still enjoyed himself thoroughly with the national team.
Despite being a regular starter for Arsenal, one of the best teams in the Premier League during his peak years, England managers often overlooked Parlour in favour of more exciting options.
A falling out with Glenn Hoddle certainly didn’t help – Parlour had picked up the Arsenal Player of the Season award in 1997/98, when they won the league and FA Cup double, but he failed to make the England squad for the World Cup in France that summer.
Arsenal legend Ray Parlour wanted more England caps
Regardless, Parlour still has fond memories when reflecting on his career with the Three Lions, while recognising the quality of players he had to compete with, too.
“Playing for my country was my proudest moment,” Parlour exclusively tells FourFourTwo. “Probably the one regret I’ll always have is that I wish I’d got more caps, but Alan Shearer was one of the best players ever to play for England and he only got one Premier League medal, so I can’t complain – I got more medals playing for my club.
“I fell out a bit with Glenn Hoddle at the start over Eileen Drewery, but Kevin Keegan came in and he was a totally different manager – very good with the players. Sven had great midfielders coming through in Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, and Paul Scholes was still in the team and he was younger than me, so it was always hard to get into the team – and you had David Beckham, who got 115 caps. If I was playing right midfield, I had no chance of playing in front of him!”
Instead, Parlour only managed 10 appearances for England during his career, all of which came in 1999 and 2000 under Kevin Keegan. He didn’t get to celebrate a goal for his country, either, with a long-range effort that hit the crossbar and crossed the line incorrectly not awarded during a 0-0 draw with Finland in October 2000.
Despite that, Parlour still looks back on fondness at the memories he has away from the pitch – including Shearer’s generosity when it came to cards.
“If I’d played for Ireland or Scotland, I would probably have got 100 caps, but I really enjoyed playing for England,” Parlour admits, “and we won loads of money playing cards!
“I played with Teddy Sheringham, Dennis Wise and Jamie Redknapp. Teddy was hard to beat – he was a poker player – and Dennis was good, too. There were a couple of bad players as well, though, and you could nick all their money off them!
“Michael Owen wasn’t the best. Alan Shearer was like Father Christmas! It was all good fun.”
