Harry’s Heroes should be renamed Harry’s Hypocrisy | Simon Carter

Sitting down for dinner one evening, I noticed a familiar face on the adjoining table – George Best.

That was no real shock, for the football legend lived at Champneys for the final few years of his life (he died the following year, aged just 59).

Forest Mere was (probably still is) virtually an alcohol-free venue. That was why Best stayed there.

Best wasn’t eating alone, though; his dining companion was another former footballer, ex-Liverpool defender Neil Ruddock.

Yes, the same Neil Ruddock that cut a worrying figure when he returned to our television screens as part of the squad for Harry’s Heroes: Euro Having a Laugh. Ruddock certainly was, well to start with anyway. Having informed everyone of heart problems which would prevent him playing, he was quickly guzzling down the pints.

The following morning, the cameras captured Ruddock storming out of a hotel after reformed alcoholic Paul Merson delivered, through his own tears, the brutal truth: if Ruddock didn’t cut out the booze his life was going only one way.

I’ve no idea how many of his friends had tried to get a similar message across in recent years, but it hadn’t worked. He obviously hasn’t listened, but if he wants to live longer than George Best – Ruddock was 52 earlier this month – he certainly needs to listen to Merson. Everyone needs to listen to Paul Merson.

While Ruddock was not portrayed in the most flattering of lights, the same cannot be said for Merson. Adored by the Fratton faithful for his part in helping Redknapp’s Pompey win promotion to the Premier League in 2003, it was impossible not to warm to Merson.

Once his life was totally out of control – ruined by gambling and drinking; indeed, he believes he would be dead by now had he not appeared on the first series of Harry’s Heroes last year.

The sight of Merson sitting alone in his hotel room drinking tea while other ‘legends’ helped Ruddock drink like a fish was, pardon the expression, a sobering one.

Here was a man who has been tortured by his own demons, yet appears to have successfully conquered them. Downstairs, with a bra on his head (and the same age as Merson), was his antithesis, a man who had obviously seen what drink had done to George Best and decided his way was the only way.

Harry’s Heroes asked far more questions than it provided answers – why did Michael Owen make such a brief cameo, what was the point of Vinnie Jones, English-born but a Welsh international, giving his tips on how to antagonise the Germans? It’s not the 1980s any more.

And why did some players hardly get any airtime, let alone a mention? Ex-Liverpool defender Alan Kennedy was one. He was 64, and made his Football League debut in 1972 – four years after Ruddock was born.

Surely someone in their mid-60s helping an England ‘legends’ team beat Germany is a better story than focussing on Ray Parlour or Mark Chamberlain sitting on the sidelines injured?

Obviously not, though; I guess Kennedy isn’t a familiar face to those who have grown up alongside Murdoch’s grotesque cash cow, the Premier League. Perhaps he didn’t have any demons to talk about, or he didn’t want to be filmed on the lash with ex-players whose medal collection was far inferior to his.

One other thing: it was jarring to see Redknapp reading a copy of the Racing Post in the opening scene, obvious product placement for sure, and then welcome a man almost destroyed by gambling with open arms. Redknapp is a BetVictor ambassador, who has an online slots game named in his ‘honour’ – Harry’s Reels.

Probably a nice little earner but, when he looks at Paul Merson, can he be totally oblivious to the problems gambling can cause?