Karen tackled the crazy drinking culture

There is a story Tony Adams likes to tell about the days when he and Ray Parlour were fully paid-up members of Arsenal's crazy gang.

"It became a long-standing joke between Ray Parlour and me," writes Adams in his autobiography Addicted. "That the birth of a baby was a good excuse for a bender and we ought to go to hospital more often and check our newborn so we could then go out for a drink to celebrate." That anecdote says something about the attitude Parlour once had to family life. His early days in Arsenal's first team were characterised by late-night benders in nightclubs, sometimes ending in brawls.

In Hong Kong in 1995 he assaulted a taxi driver after drinking 12 pints of beer at an all-night party following a 4-0 win over a local club. After a night in jail, he was fined £170 by local magistrates.

That, along with Adams's admission he was an alcoholic, forced Parlour to begin a long process of rehabilitation.

He was helped by the support of his childhood sweetheart and wife Karen, and the continental attitude instilled by manager Arsene Wenger that alcohol and peak footballing do not mix.

Looking back, Parlour said: "I was young. Growing up if you like. Everyone does silly things when they are young. But I learnt from them. Arsene Wenger showed great faith in me." He also acknowledged the importance of his and Karen's three young children. "I tend to go home to my kids now instead of going down the pub. I'm happy to say I look at things in a different perspective."

But the family life that proved his salvation did not last. In December 2001 he walked out of the couple's £1.3 million home in Hornchurch after 12 years of marriage, telling Karen: "I don't love you any more."

Her friends said he had "behaved appallingly". Today Karen Parlour stands on the brink of taking her revenge.