Biggest beast of the jungle

Pleat could have said hooligan. As a 16-year-old Ruddock was among the thousands of Millwall fans that went on the rampage in a riot which Prime Minister of the time Margaret Thatcher labelled as the worst case of hooliganism in the history of the British game.

Seats were ripped out and thrown on to the pitch and a battle ensued with police.

Ruddock found no hiding place the following day when his face was pictured on the back page of the South London Press, under the banner headline: 'Thugs'.

It was not the sort of impression that Ruddock had wanted to make as a first-year apprentice at Millwall. But it seemed to set the standard for the rest of his troubled career.

He was nicknamed 'Razor' during his spell at Tottenham when Frank Bruno was fighting Joe Bugner at White Hart Lane during the 1987-88 season.

On the same bill as those two was a powerful Canadian boxer known as 'Razor' Ruddock. The name stuck.

Before that, he had been known as 'Schuster' after the German player Bernd because of his prowess at free-kicks.

However, most of his mates and family still call him 'Jacko' after his toy monkey. I doubt that name will surface in the TV series.

During his time at Southampton, his career went into freefall in a mad six-month spell when he was sent off twice before Christmas, booked nine times, banned three times and transfer listed. It was just before Christmas-1991 when he decided to get involved in a personal battle between Alan Shearer and Notts County defender Craig Short.

With a minute left Ruddock was convinced he had seen Short stamp on his team-mate and so he ran 50 yards to head butt Short, who required four stitches above his eye.

Ruddock moved to Spurs soon after and then on to Liverpool shortly after Terry Venables, who bought him, was sacked.

Once at Anfield, Ruddock made the most of the 'Spice Boys' reputation a number of players were enjoying on Merseyside.

Indeed, on the day he signed, he met up with Jamie Redknapp and Steve McManaman at the hotel he was staying in and they went into town.

Ruddock ended the evening singing a karaoke version of Strangers in the Night.

He can certainly be the life and soul of the party, but there is also another side of Ruddock which involves his formidable temper.

He once punched Liverpool team-mate Robbie Fowler in full view of reporters on their return from a European game after the youngster cut up his prized Gucci boots in revenge for supposedly urinating in his shoes (in fact another player, Steve Harkness, had done it).

The TV producers certainly know what to expect. Now it's up to the viewers whether they like what they see.