One of the most iconic lines of English football commentary during the 2000s didn’t come from the likes of John Motson, Barry Davies, Martin Tyler or any of the era’s big commentary hitters.
Instead, it came in the Sky Sports Fanzone commentary box, when Soccer AM presenter Tim Lovejoy was sat beside future The Chase maestro Bradley Walsh for the 2002 FA Cup final between Chelsea and Arsenal at Cardiff’s Millenium Stadium.
The pair – in place to offer an alternative commentary to two teams they support – were trading verbal blows all game, before Gunners midfielder Ray Parlour latched onto a Sylvian Wiltord pass on the edge of the centre circle.
Ray Parlour’s 2002 FA Cup Final admission
“It’s only Ray Parlour!,” quipped Lovejoy, who was instantly made to eat his words, when the Romford Pele moved forward, created space for himself and lashed home from 25 yards.
Lovejoy’s head was in his hands and the Parlour and company would go on to double their lead ten minutes later through Freddie Ljungberg, as Arsene Wenger’s side sealed a second league and cup double under the French boss.
Parlour – ranked at No.9 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best Arsenal players in Premier League history – has got plenty of mileage out of this story himself, admitting that although Lovejoy was probably right to breathe easy when he saw him with the ball, he has been able to remind the presenter of his gaffe.
“He was probably right, to be fair!,” Parlour tells FourFourTwo. “You had Bergkamp and Henry on the pitch: if it fell to them, they had more chance of scoring! Bradley Walsh was the Arsenal fan doing the commentary with Tim and he said, “Ray, that’s the best moment I’ve ever had: when he said that and you put it into the top corner.”
“My phone was going mad after the game with people telling me what Tim had said. Ian Poulter is a good mate of mine and he had a stag do about three months later – I knew Tim was going, so I went and took a big sign for him, a big poster, saying, ‘It’s only Ray Parlour!’ He took it well.
“I went on Soccer AM as well. I was probably about 16/1 to get the first goal in that game. My dad was crying when I scored; he was like, “My son just scored in the FA Cup final.” Growing up, the cup final was the only live game on TV, and my mum and dad would always make a big thing of it. I’d be there with my brothers and we’d all sit on the settee and watch the helicopter going down to Wembley.
“Scoring in the final didn’t really sink in, though, because we had a big game on Wednesday to win the league at Old Trafford. I got man of the match in that, so it wasn’t a bad week!”
The victory saw Parlour claim his third of four FA Cup winners’ medal with the Gunners, while he also won three Premier League titles during his 13-year spell in north London that saw him turn out more than 450 times and net 32 goals.
