Parlour on Campbell's 'scary' return to Spurs and his cruel joke on Arsenal teammate

The Romford Pele was no stranger to fierce derby games and rivalries during his 12-year Gunners career, but no other fixture came close to the intimidating atmosphere surrounding Campbell's first return to White Hart Lane after his infamous switch between the enemy clubs.

It may have happened almost 20 years ago, but there is still plenty of bitterness in north London over the centre-back's move, which earned him the permanent nickname of 'Judas' from Spurs supporters.

But the hatred at the time was incredible, and Parlour says it was evident as soon as the Arsenal players turned up at White Hart Lane and was still boiling away by the time of their rocky departure from the stadium after their 1-1 draw.

Speaking on talkSPORT, the former midfielder said: "The fiercest game I've ever been in was Sol Campbell's first game back a White Hart Lane - WOAH!

"I'll always remember coming out [of the stadium], we got pelters, we got all sorts of things thrown at our coach."

And when by 'coach', he obviously means the team bus, not manager Arsene Wenger.

"When you come out of Tottenham you've got to do a hard left at a T-junction, and the police were on our coach telling us not to stop, just keep going as quick as you can, and it was dangerous.

"We went round this corner so quickly all the plates came out the cupboards - SMASH!

"We thought the window had gone in!

"That was probably the scariest and most intimidating game I've been involved in."

That didn't stop good ol' Razor from having a laugh, though, as he tried to make light of what would have been a fairly harrowing experience for Campbell.

"I shouted down the coach: 'Boss, I've got an idea'," he said.

"Arsene Wenger stood up and said: What is it?

"I said: 'Boss, why don't we just put a sign on the window saying, Sol sits here, at least then they'll get the right window!

"And I'll always remember the boss' reply: 'Yes, that's a good idea, we do that'.

"Sol was just looking at me with a smirk on his face."

And probably tinged with genuine fear as well - remember, he hadn't known Ray for that long.

Parlour did admit he thought that, apart from that match, Arsenal's north London derbies against Tottenham were NOT the biggest games for Arsene Wenger's Gunners.

Instead, it was their battles with Premier League title rivals Manchester United the players most looked forward to.

"You do it for the fans in derbies, really," Parlour explained.

"You want to win the game, but you still only get three points if you beat your local rivals, it's more for the fans and the bragging rights on the Monday morning when people go back to work.

"It was always a big game, playing against Spurs, it was a north London derby.

"But for me Manchester United was a bigger game in the era I played in, because you knew if you could get four points out of six from the two games you had a chance of winning the league."

Arsenal and Tottenham renew their rivalry this weekend in the first north London derby of the new Premier League season.