Robbie Savage pretended strangers were his parents to avoid punch from opponent

Robbie Savage once pretend that two strangers were his parents to avoid being punched by Dean Windass.

The renowned wind-up merchant that is Savage knew exactly how to get under the skin of the opposition, an art he perfected during his near 20-year professional career.

One such battle he won on the pitch was against Dean Windass, who had been warned by former Bradford City boss Paul Jewell before a Premier League game against Leicester City in 2000 to avoid the Welshman’s antics.

Windass recalled the game, saying: “So before the game, he (Jewell) just said to me, ‘Don’t get involved with Savage this afternoon because he’ll try winding you up – gobs**** you know what I mean.’ I went ‘Gaffer I won’t, I won’t.’

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“(I) goes out for a warm-up and Savage is like ‘now then fatty’. I wanted to f***ing kill him before we even kick off, and he just got in my head all game and they battered us 3-0. And he was going ‘you fat pub player’ and all that, and this that and the other. And I was like ‘I want to kill this man’.

“Jagger (Jewell) brought me off about 15, 20 minutes before the end. As I’m on the bench, Savage is like waving to me. My f***ing head’s gone, you know what I mean.”

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Windass revealed Jewell’s fury in the dressing room which led him on a vendetta to find Savage after the game.

He continued: “So anyway, comes in after the game, gaffer’s gone mad. ‘You’ve let Bradford fans down, blah, blah, blah’. And he says ‘You! What did I tell you about Savage winding’ and my head had gone. I was in tears with anger.

“I come out and I’m in the tunnel and Joey Taggart is texting on his phone, I said’ Tags you got a players bar?’ He says ‘Yeah, just on the right-hand side there’.

“He says ‘Why you going for a pint?’. I said ‘No, I can’t have a drink, gaffers just gone. I had the biggest b******ing of my life’. I said ‘Will Robbie Savage be there?’ He goes ‘Yeah, yeah, why?’ So I said ‘I’m gonna f***ing kill him.’

“You picture it, the players’ lounge, he’s at the end of the bar, you could see him with his blonde hair. So I thought ‘How am I gonna hit him without anybody not seeing me.’

“So all of a sudden I thought, if I just go close to him, hit him in the ribs and then walk out. I had my flip flops, toilet bag and tracksuit on. So as I get close to him, he went ‘Do you want a pint mate?’ I went ‘You what?’ He went ‘Have you met my mum and dad?’

“Oh I’m thinking, I can’t hit him in front of his mum and dad now, no way. So I went ‘Hello Mr and Mrs Savage.’ So this couple I just saw and he went ‘Do you want a pint? I went ‘No, no, I’ve got to get off, all the best well played.’

“So as I’m walking out, Tags is going ‘You s***house.’ I said ‘I can’t hit him in front of his mum and dad’. As I’m getting on the coach Tags went ‘Can I just tell you something, that wasn’t his mum and dad!’

“He f***ing done me. Was just some random couple at the bar. And I thought ‘no wonder they weren’t f***ing talking to him!”