A Liverpool players’ party threatened to spin out of control after several star players were embroiled in a bash that’s gone down in history
Christmas parties can be known to get out of hand, yet perhaps the most debauched be traced to an infamous get together held by Liverpool in 1998.
Premier League festive parties have changed over the years, with clubs and players now observing more slightly toned down affairs, adhering to a more politically correct climate. For example, in the early 1990s, Wimbledon icon turned Hollywood star Vinnie Jones organised an evening of dwarf-tossing for his Chelsea squad.
Yet it was the Anfield Christmas spectacular that seems to have lived long in the memory. The bash reportedly featured strippers and sex toys with Reds’ legend and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher said to have been covered in whipped cream after getting carried away with the entertainment.
Matters took a surreal turn after reports alleged that the Liverpool defender was dressed as the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Carragher reportedly became liberal with the cream after he was mobbed by the gang of strippers.
Wearing his distinctive outfit, the Champions League-winning star was reportedly seen cavorting with the woman on the dance floor, as well as spraying whipped cream all over her. The behaviour was so extreme by those in attendance that it is said to have scared Michael Owen, then a teenager, away from the chaos and onto the fringes of the party.
Carragher’s infamous night was also said to have been soundtracked by Paul Ince, whose job it was to keep the music going from the DJ booth. The tale goes that Ince later pleaded with Carragher to “put her down” after the defender was getting caught up with one particular stripper.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast in 2023, Carragher didn’t address that particular party, but he did peel back the curtain on his first ever Christmas do with Liverpool.
He said: “I had to sing a song – the young lads or new signings had to do something. We had a free bar that night, I’m dressed up and I ended up singing an Everton song and I was getting beer thrown at me. I was that bad, they put me in a taxi and I was in bed before 12 o’clock that night.”
It’s not just Liverpool that have made their mark on the notorious list of Christmas parties. Former Manchester United hardman Roy Keane also recounted a tale from when he wasn’t allowed to attend United’s festive celebration, after being barred.
He said: ‘I got banned from the Christmas party one year. I must’ve been injured, and the reserve team were having a night out and I went out with them and I think there was a bit of bother in Manchester.
“The first team lads were going out a couple days later and Sir Alex Ferguson came in, in front of everyone, and said that if anyone was seen drinking with me that day, they would get fined.
“The players were worried about getting fined by the manager, so I ended up going out by myself – I had a Christmas party by myself.”
West Ham United’s 1998 Christmas party is also one for the book of shame. Former Liverpool star Neil Ruddock and Trevor Sinclair spotted an orange Mini in the street after celebrations spilled out of the venue.
The pair allegedly left their mark on the vehicle, leading to a criminal damage conviction for Sinclair, with Ruddock charged and later cleared of affray under the Public Order Act.
While former Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson even went as far as to ban festive celebrations. The Red Devils’ outing in 2007 proved to be the last under the Scottish icon after several players were joined by a whole host of women at the Great John Street Hotel for a mammoth 15-hour drinking session.