Latest news with #BigDunc:TheUpfrontAutobiography
Edinburgh Live
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Live
Football legend regrets ever drinking and infamous night out in Scottish village
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Football legend Duncan Ferguson, who quit drinking at 37, has admitted any time there had been trouble in his life, alcohol has been involved. The 53-year-old has had a few notable scraps during his playing days, including an infamous incident at the Royal Hotel in Anstruther, a quiet fishing village on the Fife coast, The Mirror reports. At aged 21, he was attending a Young Player of the Year event and described himself as: 'Like a big, daft softie, I was too easily led astray.' The Mirror reports the Premier League legend was buying a round when someone with him got into a confrontation with another person. As Ferguson split them up, a "big man" on a stool at the bar got involved. Ferguson said they did not want any trouble but the man replied: ''Well, I'll f***ing give you…" Dunc recalled: 'He never got the word out of his mouth. As he made to get up from his stool, I sensed what was coming and didn't wait. Boom. The fella slid off his stool and all hell broke loose. It was like the Wild West." At 4am police called round where he was staying with officers asking: "Is Duncan Ferguson here?" Looking back, Ferguson says: 'I was there all right. Laid out on the sofa, rotten, stinking drunk, buck naked aside from a pink hat someone had given me earlier that was still on my head. "I had lipstick on, an earring and a silk glove. And nothing else. It was a strange night. 'At some point I'd got into fancy dress. I still don't know when. The police took one look at me and said, 'We'll come back later.' Which they did." Ferguson regrets the stress and anguish he must have put his parents through. And now he admits: "I now know as a parent how worrying it is when the phone goes late at night. My kids can't remember the drinking. I just tell them I never had a drink. "My two lads don't drink. Once I stopped drinking, I stopped the nights out, I stopped putting myself in dangerous positions. I know I've become a better person sober. "But you know what? I've never actually said, 'I've stopped drinking'. I don't count the days since I last had a drink. I'm not in rehab. 'Maybe one day I'll start drinking again. Maybe one day I'll be a great manager and Everton will win the Premiership. "If I'm offered a glass of champagne I might think, 'You know what? I'll have a nice glass of champagne!' Maybe.' Big Dunc: The Upfront Autobiography by Duncan Ferguson, with Henry Winter, is published on 8th May by Century
Daily Mirror
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
DUNCAN FERGUSON The ‘crime bosses' who were my best friends - including one of Britain's most wanted men
Former Everton and Newcastle ace Duncan Ferguson was one of the Premier League's most feared hard-men, but he was stunned to learn about the true identity of his off-field friends in a 2004 BBC Panorama special In May 2024 Duncan Ferguson watched a Panorama show titled The Crime Bosses Who Terrorised a City. The player said: 'I nearly dropped dead. I knew every one of them, I drank with every one of them, I played pool with every one of them. Some had been at my wedding. 'They all looked after me. They were my mates. I couldn't believe it when I saw the programme. I was in shock." Ferguson had no idea his pals were running the Huyton Firm, serious players in the drugs underworld. He said: 'We just spoke about football. I never pried. They liked me. I was an Everton man, a star player. They were Everton fans and I was one of the lads, I fitted in.' At one point he was inseparable from Mark Quinn, a drug smuggler jailed for seven years in 2022 after being on the run."He was tough, respected, feared but also generous, one of the few guys I had to constantly fight to pay a bill, and was good company," says Ferguson. "He was a big Blue and, at one point, we were inseparable. And I definitely felt I had a level of protection, as long as I never overstepped the mark, which I never did. "We were a good group. We weren't bullies, we were loved. They never, ever tried to involve me in anything. They had too much respect for me." Ferguson admits however: 'Eventually I did become concerned. Especially after an incident where Mark, who had a neck like Mike Tyson, punched a doorman who'd insulted him. I began thinking about the drinking, the bad situations it led me into. Mark changed that night, and I think I changed too. Where there's drink, there's trouble. I wished I'd listened. 'All of Mark's mates came on my stag do in Benidorm in 1998. The police followed us to the airport. How we got into Spain, I don't know. "Later on, after I'd moved abroad and into coaching, I learned some of my mates ended up getting shot and killed. Some went to prison for supplying drugs. 'I knew they were up to no good but, Jesus, I never thought for one minute how heavy they were.' Ferguson was pictured next to the Huyton boys in police stations and his solicitors told him: 'Duncan, you need to get away from these people, your face is all over mugshots. Keep away from them. I wouldn't listen." Big Dunc: The Upfront Autobiography by Duncan Ferguson, with Henry Winter, is published on 8th May by Century Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Daily Mirror
03-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Duncan Ferguson on alcohol, regrets over police run-ins and being 16 years sober
It has been 16 years since Duncan Ferguson last touched a drop of alcohol, having given up booze at the age of 37 - he admits 'once I stopped the nights out, I stopped putting myself in dangerous positions' Duncan Ferguson, who stopped drinking at 37, says any time there had been trouble in his life, booze had been involved. He had been in a few scraps before an infamous incident at the Royal Hotel in Anstruther, a quiet fishing village on the Fife coast, when he was 21, having gone to a Young Player of the Year event. Now 53, he says: 'Like a big, daft softie, I was too easily led astray.' The Premier League legend was buying a round when a lad with them got into a confrontation with another boy. As Ferguson split them up, a big man on a stool at the bar got involved. Ferguson said they did not want any trouble but the man replied: ''Well, I'll f***ing give you… 'He never got the word out of his mouth. As he made to get up from his stool, I sensed what was coming and didn't wait. Boom. The fella slid off his stool and all hell broke loose. It was like the Wild West.' At 4am police called round where Ferguson was staying asking: "Is Duncan Ferguson here?" 'I was there all right. Laid out on the sofa, rotten, stinking drunk, buck naked aside from a pink hat someone had given me earlier that was still on my head. I had lipstick on, an earring and a silk glove. And nothing else. It was a strange night. 'At some point I'd got into fancy dress. I still don't know when. "The police took one look at me and said, 'We'll come back later.' Which they did." Ferguson regrets the stress and anguish he must have put his parents through. And now he admits: "I now know as a parent how worrying it is when the phone goes late at night. My kids can't remember the drinking. I just tell them I never had a drink. My two lads don't drink. Once I stopped drinking, I stopped the nights out, I stopped putting myself in dangerous positions. "But you know what? I've never actually said, 'I've stopped drinking.' I don't count the days since I last had a drink. I'm not in rehab. 'Maybe one day I'll start drinking again. Maybe one day I'll be a great manager and Everton will win the Premiership. If I'm offered a glass of champagne I might think, 'You know what? I'll have a nice glass of champagne!' Maybe.' Big Dunc: The Upfront Autobiography by Duncan Ferguson, with Henry Winter, is published on 8th May by Century
Daily Mirror
02-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Duncan Ferguson reveals 'frightening' first question he was asked on first prison walk with inmates
Former Rangers star Duncan Ferguson became inmate number 12718 during his stay at Glasgow's Barlinnie prison - now he recounts his first walk outside his cell My daily prison routine began with no frills. Prisoners woke up at 6.30am and headed to the communal shower area. Nothing could have prepared me for discovering what that pot in the corner of my room was really for, as I stood in line watching men depositing faeces and urine from their chamber pots into big sinks. What did I expect? Proper sanitation? A disgrace, it was. From that morning onwards I would worry about who was standing at my back. I needed eyes in the back of my head to avoid some scarface pouring his p*** and s*** on me. They all had scars inside Barlinnie. You could get cut to ribbons for £2 of credit on a phonecard. I was told about toothbrushes with razor blades moulded into the plastic – the weapon of choice. After slopping out, it was breakfast at 7am back in our cells. I had a boiled egg sat on the edge of my bed. Then the cell doors were opened. I steeled myself. Should I leave my cell? I sat on the edge of my bed, thinking of the knives that might be waiting. Come on, Dunc, take that step. I heard whispering: 'There's Dunc.' And then a louder voice from across the landing. 'D'ya want your hair cut, big fella?' A boy wearing the regulation red shirt with white stripes stood there, holding a pair of scissors. How would I react? 'Yes, no problem, mate,' I said, and I walked across the gallery and over to the chair where I sat in front of him. I felt sick. This guy could stick his scissors in my throat. It was the most frightened I've ever been. All of a sudden his hands dropped down on my shoulders, and I could see the scissors out of the corner of my eye. Just one stabbing motion away from my jugular. 'What will it be, big fella?' 'Short back and sides, wee man.' And he began to cut. My hair. It broke the ice. If I was going to get slashed, at least it wouldn't be by the barber of Barlinnie. Big Dunc: The Upfront Autobiography by Duncan Ferguson, with Henry Winter, is published on 8th May by Century Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
