“Everyone was leaving Anfield and ran back in after my magnificent header. People ask, ‘Do you remember that goal you scored?’ As if I scored millions!” Neil Ruddock on his favourite-ever game

There was more to Neil Ruddock than his reputation as a non-nonsense hard man suggested.

While, yes, the London-born centre-back was one of the more fearsome players of his era - FourFourTwo ranked him at no.9 in a list of the hardest players of the 1990s - there was another side to his game.

Ruddock was also able to bring the ball out of defence after crunching his opponent, knew how to strike a ball and was the penalty taker at Southampton before Matt Le Tissier began his near-flawless record of 47 goals from 48 spot kicks for Saints.

Ruddock opens up on his favourite game

It’s perhaps not a major surprise that Ruddock’s favourite game out of the 400-odd he played as a professional involved him scoring.

When asked by FourFourTwo to name the games that changed his life, the 57-year-old recalls the classic 1994 Premier League clash between Liverpool and Manchester United which saw the two foes share out six goals.

“We were 3-0 down against our big rivals – Steve Bruce, Ryan Giggs and Denis Irwin scored, but Nigel Clough got two back before half-time,” Ruddock tells us. “I equalised in the last 10 minutes or so, a magnificent header.

“People always come up to me and say, ‘Razor, do you remember that goal you scored?’ I’m like, ‘I might, which one are you talking about?’ As if I scored millions!

“Everyone was walking out of the stadium and had to come running back in! I scored at the Anfield Road End, then ran back to the old standing Kop for kick-off – they were amazing scenes.

“That’s my favourite game I played in.”

Ruddock’s five years at Liverpool saw him net 12 goals across all competitions and the defender would hang up his boots in in 2002 having netted 42 career goals.

Ruddock was speaking in association with Old Gold Racing