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Trouble had a way of finding John Arne Riise during his playing days.
He infamously had a run-in with John Carew while on international duty with Norway in 2003, with the Liverpool left-back reportedly getting sparked out by the big striker following an argument Riise started by spitting at Carew’s feet.
Then, in February 2007, a ridiculous argument over karaoke led Craig Bellamy to set about Riise with a golf club as the Norwegian lay in his hotel bed after a ‘team bonding trip’ to Portugal.
Riise reflected to FourFourTwo: “The thing with Carew only happened quickly, and we spoke the same night.
“It shouldn’t have happened, but we talked about it the same day and have been friends ever since.
“The thing with Bellamy was more threatening because it was with a golf club.
It sounds stupid, and people think I’m kidding, but he went for my shins. It could have ended my career.
“He was drunk and all over the place mentally, so that was scarier. If I didn’t jump out of bed and protect my shins, I would have been done.
“But at the same time, if I met those two one against one, I’d be more scared of Carew than of Bellamy, for sure.”
Amusingly, Bellamy and Riise both scored for Liverpool as they beat Barcelona to progress on their way to the 2007 final – and even more bizarrely, that incident with Bellamy went on to play a part in Wrexham’s history, of all clubs. No pun intended.
As reported at the time, Bellamy requested that part of his fine should be donated to ailing Wrexham, who were then second-bottom of League Two.
A Wrexham statement later said: “The directors of Wrexham FC would personally like to say a very big thank you on behalf of all our supporters to Wales’ own Craig Bellamy for the very generous donation he has made to Wrexham Football Club.
“This has allowed us to bring in three loan players to aid our fight for Football League survival.”
Those loan signings Richard Walker (from Port Vale), Michael Proctor (from Hartlepool) and Tony Williams (from Carlisle), ultimately helped Wrexham rise well clear of the drop… though they were ultimately relegated the following season.
