The Autobiography Of Neil Ruddock
Neil Ruddock relives the controversial moments in his career in this fully updated edition of his warts and all autobiography, including a full account of West Ham's eventful 1999/2000 Premiership campaign. "Razor" Ruddock has had a chequered career since he left school at sixteen to sign for his local club, Millwall, where he came under the tutelage of George Graham and was a team-mate of Teddy Sheringham.
Two years later he got his big break at Southhampton, refining a reputation as a tough defender and a player not to be messed with. Ruddock recalls some fascinating dressing room stories at the Denn, including those involving a then young Saints striker, Alan Shearer. Spurs boss Terry Venables paid two million pounds to bring Ruddock to White Hart Lane, but a bust-up with Venables' departure meant his days at the club were numbered. In 1993 Graeme Souness persuaded him north to join Liverpool; Ruddock recalls his fluctuating fortunes as he struggled with a weight problem and found life far from easy during his five years at the Merseyside club.
Now a rejuvenated Ruddock finds himself at Upton Park, with a host of colourful team-mates in Paolo Di Canio, John Moncur, and making the headlines again over the Patrick Vieira spitting incident, of which he gives his side of the story. And in a new chapter for 1999/2000, Ruddock looks at the highs and lows of the Hammers' season, with many more tales to tell.
