I went to a pre-season drink in Coventry – it got so messy we all ended up in jail

Former Coventry star Stephen Warnock has revealed a pre-season drinking session ended with him and his team-mates in a prison cell.

The 42-year-old, who has also had spells at Liverpool, Aston Villa and Leeds, was loaned to the Sky Blues in the 2003/04 season. Manager Gary McAllister put the players through a rigorous training regime during the summer but allowed them to let loose with a team night at the end of the tour.

Warnock shared the story on the Undr The Cosh podcast, explaining how the night of celebration descended into chaos after players were refused entry to a nightclub. “We were on tour (in Germany) and we had a difficult pre-season so (McAllister) said we needed to bond with the team a bit,” recalled the former defender.

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“We had almost like a raft with a bar on it going down a canal and we were just going to go out and spend the day drinking and getting to know each other. Anyway, we went out on the p* ** and later we were like, ‘We can go out tonight,’ and (McAllister) said, ‘Absolutely, make sure everybody’s there.’

“So a few of us walked down to the local nightclub, it was like a five-minute walk and we talked to the bouncer or the owner or whoever it was and we were like, ‘We’re an England football team , We have about 30 guys, are we okay to come tonight in shorts and stuff?

“And he said, ‘Yeah, yeah, no problem.’ So we go back to the hotel and drink for a few more hours and when we get back to the club he’s like, “Don’t come in,” and we’re like, “Why didn’t we talk to you face to face,” and he’s like, ” No, nah!”

Things quickly escalated, reports the Mirror, when Coventry ace David Pipe confronted the goalkeeper, who retaliated by hitting him in the face with a nightstand.

“The man just took out a cosh and popped it (Pipe),” Warnock recalled, “and it would have knocked anyone else down, it would have killed them. But he hung in there, got hit in the face and then just got knocked out. (goalie) out, Pipey just put the guy through.

The players, understandably, made a quick exit, but the police were soon on their trail. After wandering the streets alone, Warnock came across some of his colleagues taking their breaths at a petrol station.

“We found five of the guys and we were all buzzing thinking we were going to get away with it. But then a van comes around the corner and hits us in the back and all the guys are there, they all were. caught.”

Warnock made 49 appearances for Coventry in his only season at the club, scoring three goals. He returned to Liverpool at the end of the season and spent two more years in the Reds’ first team before being sold to Blackburn in 2007. He later played for Villa, Leeds, Derby and Wigan before retiring in 2018 .

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