Tottenham’s secret Christmas party made Harry Redknapp go ‘absolutely mental’ after finding out Robbie Keane had organised rebellious trip to Dublin
It's not just the Tories who like to party in secret at Christmas... as all hell broke lose when Harry Redknapp found out the Tottenham squad had organised a festive bash behind his back in 2009.
With the party season in full flow, talkSPORT has looked back on one its favourite stories, which you will not be surprised to learn Jamie O'Hara was at the heart of.
Manager of Spurs at the time, Redknapp had asked the squad in a team meeting to avoid the traditional night out - only to learn they'd already been out.
Robbie Keane, club captain at the time, had arranged for the squad to fly to Dublin for the weekend and the veteran boss was not happy - to say the least.
A furious Redknapp said: "It will be dealt with, I promise you that.
“I wouldn’t like to say what I’m going to do but it will be dealt with and then we will move on.”
He told the media they did not misbehave and had heard no negative reports, but “they didn’t ask for my permission so they have to take the consequences, which they will do.”
Detailing the incident, O’Hara, co-host of the Sports Bar and who was playing for the club at the time, explained Redknapp hated Christmas parties.
"Robbie Keane had organised this big event in Dublin, and we all went there,” he told the station in December 2020.
”Before Harry even knew what was going on we'd had the Christmas party and we were back in training on the Monday.
"Harry pulled us into a team meeting in the afternoon and said 'boys I'm just letting you know I don't want any of you organising a Christmas party this year', not knowing we'd already had one!"
He continued: "On the Tuesday, The Sun ran the story of us all out in nightclubs in Dublin - literally everyone's on the back of it.
"Harry Redknapp goes absolutely mental.
”He gave us the hairdryer treatment, and let me tell you none of us played that weekend!"
These secret Christmas parties never turn out well - just ask Boris.