Player locked himself in Arsenal toilets to avoid wrath of angry players

[PHOTO: COURTESY]

Chris Sutton has recalled the sensational story of when he sprinted down the Highbury tunnel and hid in the toilets to avoid the wrath of angry Arsenal players.

The incident occurred towards the end of the 1996/97 campaign, in which the Gunners finished third - seven points behind winners Manchester United - during a rather intense game with Blackburn.

Sutton, who was playing up front for Rovers, opted to do something legal, but not particularly sportsmanlike, which led to his side's dramatic late equaliser, and went down like a lead balloon among the Arsenal players.

In fact the Gunners stars - consisting of hard men including Martin Keown, Nigel Winterburn, Ian Wright, Tony Adams, and Patrick Vieria - was so furious that Sutton feared for his own safety, and took refuge in the toilets at Hughbury.

[PHOTO: COURTESY]

Recalling the story in a brilliant interview with FourFourTwo magazine, Sutton said: "Blackburn were struggling in the league that season and were losing 1-0 going into the 90th minute.

"Back in those days, if an opponent kicked the ball out for an injury, you would give it them back. But Patrick Vieira was just sitting down on the pitch and when they kicked the ball out, we thought: 'They're time-wasting here'. I don't know if I'm trying to make a case for myself?

"When we gave them the ball back we said: 'Send it over Nigel Winterburn's head and then we'll chase it', which wasn't quite the done thing.

"I closed Nigel down, he put it out for a corner and then it all kicked off. In came the corner, Garry Flitcroft scored a cracking goal and all hell broke loose."

"All sorts of threats were being made so I played the last minute-and-a-half out on the left wing near the tunnel!

"When the final whistle went, I pegged it down the tunnel and they're all coming after me, so I went back in the dressing room, thought: 'Sod this' and got in the toilet. That was the safest place for me!"