Ray’s Goal against Chelsea in the F.A Cup Final    May 02  

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RAY-“We really felt that whoever scored first would win the game. It was a tough London Derby and a bit slow at first and we really had to grind out a result because Frank Lampard and Manu Petit in midfield made it difficult for us.
For my goal I looked up and couldn’t see any support so I thought “why not?” Usually they go up in the stand but today in went in the top corner.
“We would like to go out and get rotten drunk but the manager won’t allow that because were playing Manchester United on Wednesday. “We really want to do the double up there at Old Trafford. We have the belief we can do it. And if we win up there then we can really celebrate. “

Henry- “I know I am biased and it’s not just because he’s playing at Arsenal but I really cannot understand why Ray Parlour is not in the England team.
Today he was the man, he was running everywhere for us at the back, at the front and he scored a magnificent goal. You have to give credit to Ray sometimes. Because it always goes to me, Dennis Bergkamp or Freddie Ljungberg, but today he had a tremendous impact.
“He plays in a less glamorous position. When you are a striker you are always in a position to score goals. But Ray was brilliant and should be there in the England squad.”

Wenger- “I made Ray my man of the match today and not just because he scored. He has a huge engine and a tremendous physical presence too and that first goal was vital.”
"I believe Sven Goran Eriksson sat in the stands today and I would have thought Ray made some good plus points out there and must now have a chance of going to the World Cup Finals.”

Andy Gray- “ Parlour doesn’t grab the headlines like some of his more well known colleagues do but, for me he epitomises the work ethic that runs through the Arsenal team. “

Andy Dunn, The People- “Ray Parlour –discharger of a fire extinguisher in Pizza Hut and the man who asked Eileen Drewery for a short back ’n’ sides-has embraced this modern era. Even alcohol- free Arsene Wenger turned a blind eye as Parlour raised the Moet to his mouth. “Because of all the expensive vintage crammed into the Millennium Stadium’s cellar, it was Parlour who produced the Champagne moment.
“We expected it to come from Reykjavik or Rome. Or maybe even Rennes of Rotterdam. Instead, it came from Romford-home of the dog track and the countries most celebrated ladies. And no the two are not connected.
“Parlour is the last of a dying Highbury breed. Almost a throwback to the days when you could find a pint rather than a prune juice in the hands of a footballer.
His story is one of a wayward Englishman re-inventing his ways, his diet, his attitude. It was the only way of keeping his head above the rising tide of super-fit, super-conscientious foreigners flooding these shores.
“But in the terms of football’s fashion set, Parlour has been seen as outdated as his curly mop of hair. Just one look at England’s World Cup squad will tell you that. Yet yesterday he lit up the flimsiest of finals with a classic curler that would have graced the game’s most illuminated stage.
When Parlour was omitted from the 2001 final starting line-up, he had not been so disgruntled since former England boss Glenn Hoddle ordered Eileen to lay her hands on his shoulders.
For him to even be among the 11 yesterday was an achievement that should not be under-estimated. Had Robert Pires not been encased in a splint in the south of France, there is doubt that Parlour would be moping around the Lucozade bottles.
“But his strike was footballer of the year class..and it lifted a burden of anxiety from Arsenal’s shoulders.“


Tim Lovejoy- “ Oh no he got through! Oh, its alright its only Ray Parlour..”