While at Arsenal he was nicknamed "The Romford Pelé", an ironic sobriquet reflecting his combination of solid performance with a humorous, self-deprecating, down to earth personality and an image wholly lacking in glamour.

His increasing success in his Gunners shirt did not, however, secure him a place in England's 1998 World Cup squad, coach Glenn Hoddle preferring Spurs' Darren Anderton instead.

[6] In 2002, another year in which Arsenal won the Double, he opened the scoring in the Gunners' 2–0 FA Cup Final victory over Chelsea, putting his club ahead with a 30-yard strike that Soccer AM's commentator Tim Lovejoy famously failed to anticipate: "Oh, it's all right, it's only Ray Parlour".

Even at the peak of his success, though, he was less acclaimed by football journalists than several of his Arsenal contemporaries, spending much of his time at the club in the shadow of Patrick Vieira in particular.

[9] In July 2004, Parlour joined fellow Premier League club Middlesbrough on a free transfer, signing a three-year contract at the Riverside Stadium.

His fellow former internationals Claudio Caniggia, Graeme Le Saux, Martin Keown and Brian McBride joined him as players, David Seaman was recruited as a goalkeeping coach and Terry Venables, formerly the manager of England, served as the club's technical advisor.

[19] He made his senior team debut as a substitute in a UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier against Poland on 27 March 1999; he won ten caps for England altogether, without ever scoring any goals.

The closest he came to one was in a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Finland on 11 October 2000, when he 'scored' with a spectacular 30-yard strike which hit the crossbar and crossed the goal-line but was incorrectly disallowed by a linesman, the match finishing 0–0.

In July 2004, they agreed how to divide their existing wealth – Parlour giving Karen two mortgage-free houses and £250,000 – but they were unable to negotiate a mutually satisfactory arrangement over their income.

The ensuing court case concluded in an award that increased Parlour's annual payment to £212,500, but neither party was satisfied with this outcome, and both appealed against the finding.

The case led media commentators to suggest that the finding heralded a new era in the divorces of wealthy couples, with non-earning spouses being awarded a larger share of their former partner's income than hitherto, and some pundits forecast an increasing use of prenuptial agreements in consequence.