The 50-year-old golfer had trials for the Premier League club as a teenager but was eventually let go, and he’s thankful things turned out “OK” and he went on to have a longer career than he otherwise may have done.

He told FourFourTwo magazine: “I actually had trials at Tottenham Hotspur as a kid, but I got asthma when I was 13.

“I moved back to centre-half, but I still took all the corners and free kicks.

“But I’m really pleased they told me I was s***.

“If I had gone down the football path, then I would have retired 15 years ago and I’d probably be skint, so it turned out OK in the end.”

Ian is a big fan of Tottenham’s north London rivals Arsenal and one of his “proudest moments” was going on to the pitch at their old ground Highbury after helping Europe to win the Ryder Cup.

He said: “One of my proudest moments was being asked to take the Ryder Cup trophy onto the pitch at Highbury.

“Europe had won the Ryder Cup in 2004 and I was asked to parade it around the pitch.

“That moment was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been in my life.

“Being an Arsenal fan, walking out in front of 38,000 supporters, not knowing whether anyone in the stadium would have a clue who I actually was. But it was incredible.

“Then, in the changing rooms after the game, I had my photo taken with the team.”