A member of Arsenal’s Invincibles squad has admitted that he used to flog fake Gucci gear to some of their key players.
What’s more, England internationals in David Seaman and Ray Parlour apparently fell for the trick – and then told their wives that they had procured the goods from Selfridges.
Goalkeeper Graham Stack came through Arsenal’s academy in the 1990s and rose to become Seaman’s understudy and Jens Lehmann’s deputy until he left in 2005.
He was on the bench on the day the Invincibles seized the Premier League title in 2004, though he did not play in the league that season.
But before that glory, when he was only a 17-year-old, Stack claims he used to supplement his wages with an artful ruse.
‘We used to have a feller at our pub who would come in with belts, bags, wallets, [fake] Gucci, the lot,’ he told The Mixer.
Former Arsenal player Graham Stack says he used to sell fake Gucci gear to his team-mates
He was the back-up goalkeeper during their Invincibles season, though he didn’t play in the Premier League
‘I thought, “There is a move here.” I was in the academy and was only 17 at the time. I went and filled the boot of my car up with the gear and drove to training.
‘I was taking orders from people. I used to basically go in, showcase what I had, take the orders then go back, fill my boot up and come in the next day.
‘I’m laying out all the Gucci in the car park, I’m at Arsenal football club! All the first-team boys had seen I had bags, like Gucci bags. A few of the lads were saying, “I’ll have a couple of them for the Mrs.”
‘I had given them loads and loads of bags and we had a Christmas do. Lo and behold, all the boys are all Gucci’d up. But all the birds had the same Gucci bag.
‘David Seaman had been telling his Mrs he’s gone into town, Selfridges, “I thought I’d get you a nice little treat.” Ray Parlour had said the same to his bird.
‘We also all had Gucci wallets so when we sat down and everyone put their wallets on the table, it was all the same wallet! It was all just full of dodgy Gucci gear!’
Stack is a raconteur of wild tales about his footballing career and, at least according to his testimony, he ended up in many crazy situations.
He was previously recalled knocking out a pitch invader with a punch while on loan at Beveren in Belgium.
David Seaman was one of the big-name stars who fell for the trick in the 1990s, Stack says
Stack has also claimed that he once drove the team bus – a tale that his former team-mate Jermain Pennant was all too happy to recall in 2024 speaking at the launch of Ladbrokes‘ ‘Gaffer of all Accas’.
‘He was always a bit of a loose cannon, right the way through the youth team and into the first-team set-up, but he was a great guy,’ Pennant remembered.
‘I don’t think he’s changed much over the years, by the way; I think he’s still a bit of a loose cannon now – he’s such a great character. Boy, you don’t want to get in his crosshairs… he’s crazy!
‘I’d love to tell you some stories that spring to mind when I think of him, but I don’t think they’d be able to go out! He’s a mad man.
‘We’d all meet up at Highbury and this coach would take us to London Colney for training.
‘Graham decided one afternoon, when he got on, and the driver was waiting, that he was going to drive the coach… he’d have been about 17 at the time, and he’s driving it.
‘The driver was standing in the aisles and Graham’s slammed his foot on the brakes, and our driver’s almost gone through the window!
‘I think he smashed the whole window to bits. Honestly, there’s just loads of stories like that; he was just a crazy guy.’
