Duncan Ferguson was a very good footballer. A British transfer record fee, an FA Cup win, 126 career goals, seven international caps and his status as a cult hero at Everton are testimony to this.
But as good as Big Dunc was at winning headers and scoring goals, he was just as good at catching burglars.
Famously, the former Scotland international thwarted not one, but two burglary attempts on his home in the early 2000s. The first, in 2001 saw Ferguson apprehend one of two burglars, with the pair being sentenced to 15 months in prison, while the next attempted break-in two years later saw the would-be thief hospitalised after he went to attack Ferguson.
Big Dunc's tips for stopping burglaries
So what are Ferguson’s tips for dealing with a home invader?
“Don’t sleep,” he tells FourFourTwo. “That’s one of the reasons I caught them, as I sleep with one eye open. Those incidents were frightening, and not a very nice experience.
“They [the burglars] are probably more embarrassed than I am. They shouldn’t have been in my house. Unfortunately for them, they made an awful decision, possibly full of booze or something. I don’t hold it against them.
“It happened twice! The first time, they were trying to be smart. They knew it was my house. That’s what upset me. I had a young baby at the time as well, and they did it at 1am.
“The first two lads got 15 months. The second time, the boy got four years because he was on licence. He was a druggie. He couldn’t help himself, because drugs are terrible and you can’t control yourself.
“A lot of people in my family have passed away because of drugs. It’s not nice.”
As Ferguson looks back at the incident, he admits he would view it differently if it happened now.
“My wife was more frightened than me,” he continues. “We had to move house. I was f**king fit as a fiddle; when you’re young, it’s just another incident and you don’t think that much. If they came through my door now, I might think, ‘F**king take my telly, who gives a f**k?!’ [Laughs]
Big Dunc: The Upfront Autobiography, written with Henry Winter, is available now in hardback, eBook and audiobook
