Neil 'Razor' Ruddock continues to show off his incredible transformation following weight loss surgery after revealing he felt pressured to drink from the age of 16 to avoid being an 'outcast' amongst fellow footballers
Share:
Neil 'Razor' Ruddock has continued to show off his incredible transformation following weight loss surgery as he ditches the booze and embarks on dry January. The former footballer, 56, has lost nearly 10-stone as a result of life-saving gastric sleeve surgery in 2021 after doctors he had just three months to live following years of heavy drinking.
![[The former footballer has lost nearly 10-stone as a result of life-saving gastric sleeve surgery in 2021 after doctors he had just three months to live following years of heavy drinking (left in 2019)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/08/15/93872473-14263139-The_former_footballer_has_lost_nearly_10_stone_as_a_result_of_a_-a-24_1736348628307.jpg)
Neil showcased his slimmed down physique in a black sweater for an Alcohol Change UK campaign alongside ex-Wimbledon FC player Fraser Franks and football journalist Jay Motty. Speaking about his relationship with alcohol Neil said: 'I think the toughest thing about the drinking culture in football when I was a young player, was that there was a lot of peer pressure, like the older players said 'right, Tuesday, you've got to come out [Drinking]'.
![[Neil said: 'I think the toughest thing about the drinking culture in football when I was a young player, was that there was a lot of peer pressure' (pictured 1998)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/08/15/93872027-14263139-image-a-25_1736349258439.jpg)
'Of course you wanted to be accepted, to be one of the lads. This was when I was 16, 17, the young apprentice that wanted to be among it with the older pros. So that's when I started drinking'. He continued: 'If you said you weren't drinking back then you would have been an outcast. The dressing room is a powerful place, and can be a horrible place when it comes to the banter, so I don't think anyone would say no'.
![[Neil showcased his slimmed down physique in a black sweater for a Alcohol Change UK campaign alongside ex-Wimbledon FC player Fraser Franks and football journalist Jay Motty]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/08/15/93872957-14263139-Neil_showcased_his_slimmed_down_physique_in_a_black_sweater_for_-a-30_1736349421555.jpg)
Neil 'Razor' Ruddock, 56, has continued to show off his incredible transformation following weight loss surgery as he ditches the booze for dry January. The former footballer has lost nearly 10-stone as a result of life-saving gastric sleeve surgery in 2021 after doctors he had just three months to live following years of heavy drinking (left in 2019).
![[He confessed that it didn't matter if he was 'mad, bad, sad, or glad' because every emotion was an excuse to drink (pictured 2020)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/08/15/93872471-14263139-He_confessed_that_it_didn_t_matter_if_he_was_mad_bad_sad_or_glad-a-29_1736349390075.jpg)
