IAN HYLAND
on last night’s telly
Harry’s Heroes: Euro Having A Laugh, ITV:
★★★★
Unless you have BT Sport and a fondness for the German league, finding a televised game where you don’t already know the result can be tricky.
So we should all give thanks to Harry Redknapp and ITV.
Watching a bunch of unfit England veterans battling it out with some French amateur nude footballers in a sports hall in the suburbs of Paris may not exactly be Liverpool v Manchester United at Anfield, but it’s better than nothing. In last year’s exhilarating three-parter The Full English, Harry’s boys beat a German Legends side 4-2.
Now the Germans wanted revenge, on home soil. Unfortunately, as Harry soon noted, there was a problem: “When it comes to health and fitness my lads have dropped the ball.”
Yes, Harry. And by the looks of it, some of them picked the ball up again and shoved it up their shirts.
For Razor Ruddock it
was a bit more serious than that. He was on the bench awaiting heart surgery. This news led indirectly to a completely unexpected and utterly genuine scene of raw and emotional drama as Razor’s alcoholic pal of 30 years Paul Merson – who openly admits that The Full English saved his life – tearfully pleaded with him to mend his boozy ways before it was too late.
Now it’s not so much about the team beating the Germans again in the finale tomorrow. It’s about them repeating a more important trick – helping to save the life of a teammate.
And I didn’t expect to be writing that when Harry’s banter bus first pulled up.
MISERABLE HARRY PAGES 26 & 27