FORMER Arsenal goalkeeper Graham Stack crashed the team minibus while he was playing for the academy.
Stack spent six years at Arsenal without ever playing a Premier League game, though he did make five League Cup appearances
That gave him plenty of opportunity to have fun elsewhere, and on one occasion he commandeered the team minibus despite having just passed his driving test.
His idea of a bit of fun backfired when he lost control of the vehicle, resulting in the actual team bus driver smashing into the windscreen.
Stack, 41, recalled the story in an exclusive interview with Ladbrokes Fanzone, saying: “I was quite fortunate really because it didn’t come out in the press at the time.
“I was in the academy and a chap called Lawrence was our coach driver; I’d just passed my driving test and at the Arsenal training ground there was quite a long driveway.
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“So I asked Lawrence if I could just drive the minibus down to the bottom of the drive. Lawrence always used to hit the brake if someone was standing up, but he’d do it gently enough that you’d rock forward but not fall over, i.e. just sit down, and he used to do it to me quite a bit.
“So, he was standing up at the time next to me to see what I was doing and I picked up slightly more speed than I anticipated and didn’t realise the weight of the coach and as we were getting half way down the drive I get up a bit more speed and thought I’d touch the brakes so Lawrence would jump forward, but obviously I hit the brakes slightly harder than I was expecting to and Lawrence has almost gone through the window screen.
“He smashed the window screen and broke his glasses. It was a scary moment I’ve got to say!
“Luckily for him, Arsene Wenger or anybody else at the club chose to caution him – perhaps that was because they never found out.
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“I was worried for Lawrence anyway but also because he shouldn’t have let me drive the bus, but we got it back to Highbury and got the new glass fitted and it wasn’t really spoken about after that.”
Unfortunately for Stack, he was involved in another chaotic scene while at Arsenal.
During a loan spell at Belgian side Beveren the goalie punched a Royal Antwerp supporter after fans invaded the pitch.
He was also subjected to abuse and missiles were thrown in his direction before the confrontation.
Stack said of the incident: “Out of nowhere, I saw all these fans running at me.
“I could see someone running at me and it was obvious he wasn’t going to stop. I swung at him out of self-defence.”
Stack spent time at Millwall and Reading on loan from the Gunners, joining the latter on a permanent basis in 2006.
He also had spells at Leeds, Wolves, Plymouth, Blackpool and Hibs before a four year stint at Barnet, where he made 125 league appearances.
Stack is now goalkeeper coach at Colchester United.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
