Carl Fletcher may not be a West Ham United legend but one particular goal against bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur was the stuff of legend.
Fans of West Ham and Spurs have very different memories of the now infamous Lasagne-gate.
The food poisoning controversy infamously certainly did not help Spurs as they missed out on a place in the Champions League on the final day of the 2005/06 season.
In May 2006, Tottenham travelled to Upton Park only needing to match Arsenal’s result against Wigan in order to clinch the final Champions League spot at their rivals’ expense.
But Spurs’ pre-match meal caused an outbreak of vomiting and nausea among the players at their Canary Wharf hotel on the eve of the game.
Lasagne-gate remembered
Out on the pitch, it didn’t take long for West Ham to take advantage.
Carl Fletcher scored a screamer from range to open the scoring after just 10 minutes.
And while loathed former Hammer Jermain Defoe equalised shortly before half-time, the visitors started flagging in the second half.
By the time Yossi Benayoun put West Ham back in front in the 80th minute, Arsenal were already 4-2 up against Wigan thanks to a Thierry Henry hat-trick.
Tottenham’s fate was sealed, and as Arsenal celebrated a happy climax to their final game at Highbury by singing West Ham’s Bubbles anthem, Spurs trudged back into the Upton Park dressing room in despair.
It is a game which intensified the rivalry between the two clubs.
Fletcher goal just got all the more legendary for West Ham fans
And one West Ham fans remember with relish even if Spurs have developed into Champions League regulars since.
Well Hammers fans will love that game even more now thanks to a funny story from the man who scored the first goal, Fletcher.
It is undoubtedly the game and goal the midfield grafter will be forever remembered for by West Ham supporters.
But it will live long in the memory of his own family too, as revealed by Fletcher on talkSPORT.
“Had a great time at West Ham, a lot of success, I was only there two years but really enj it promotion from cship to PL and obviously the FA Cup final,” Fletcher told talkSPORT.
‘What the hell is he doing?’
“My in-law’s family are all Spurs fans, my two brother-in-laws are massive Spurs fans, season ticket holders and they obviously knew I was playing.
“They were in a pub watching it and obviously saying ‘That’s Carl (our brother-in-law) he’s playing today’. Goal goes in, they said the whole pub turned around and literally just stared at them, as if to say ‘Well what the hell is he doing, why is he scoring against Spurs’.
“After the game, went back to the in-laws’ house very frosty reception I’m not gonna lie, very frosty.”
Fletcher also dispelled the myth that Tottenham’s players weren’t on their game as a result of the bug.
“Ultimately we played well that day as a team and whatever had happened in the past or gone on prior to the game I think we deserved the victory,” Fletcher added.
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