Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's bizarre contract clause – and five other odd demands

Contract clauses are a big part of the modern game.

They are a way for a club to sweeten a transfer and generally work to the benefit of the player being signed.

But every now and again a club will insert a contract clause to assert a level of control over a player, to ensure they’re kept in check.

At Arsenal Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had a rather bizarre clause written into his contract.

Alan Gernon explained the clause in his book, The Transfer Market: The Inside Stories.

“Following Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s move to Arsenal in 2011, Gunners fans became increasingly frustrated with the midfielder’s lack of playing time,” reads a section.

“He was predominantly used as a substitute, often around the 71-minute mark.

“After his contract details emerged, it all became clear: Arsenal were obliged to pay Southampton £10,000 every time he played 20 minutes or more.”

Oxlade-Chamberlain isn’t the only footballer to have had an unusual clause written into his contract in recent years.

Here are five other strange clauses from the bizarre world of football.

Stefan Schwarz’s space ban

Sunderland were delighted to sign Stefan Schwarz for £4million back in 1999.

The Swede put pen to paper on a four-year deal that was entirely run of the mill, aside the from the line that read ‘space travel would see the contract terminated.’

No we are not joking.

Sunderland’s chief executive, John Fickling told BBC Radio 5 Live at the time: “One of Schwarz’s advisers has, indeed, got one of the places on the commercial flights.

“And we were worried that he may wish to take Stefan along with him. So we thought we’d better get things tied up now rather than at the time of the flight.

“It was a reasonable request. We would normally get insurance cover for the player throughout the length of his contract. And like a lot of insurance policies there are certain exclusions, such as dangerous activities.

“At the end of the day we are protecting the club, really. It was a little bit of a light-hearted moment during protracted negotiations.

“But one day it could become be quite acceptable to put such clauses in various contracts.”

Cooking with Rolf-Christel Guie-Mien

When Rolf-Christel Guie-Mien moved from Karlsruher to Eintracht Frankfurt back in 1999 he made a rather unusual request.

The Congolese demanded the German club stick a clause in his contract that would see them pay for his wife to have… wait for it… cooking lessons.

Presumably Guie-Mien wasn’t a fan of what his better half was serving up and thought swapping clubs was a great opportunity to address this.

Can’t image she was too pleased, though.

Stig Inge Bjornebye can’t hit the slopes

During his formative years, Stig Inge Bjornebye was a keen skier – a passion he inherited from his dad.

Bjornebye’s father, Jo competed in the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble and the 1972 Winter Olympics in Japan.

However, when Bjornebye put pen to paper with Liverpool the Anfield club put a stop to all his snow-based fun with a sneaky clause in his contract.

The clause prevented Bjornebye from skiing – it was the club’s way of protecting their investment from a broken leg – for the duration of his stint on Merseyside.

Neil Ruddock’s weight clause

Former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan inserted a clause in Neil Ruddock’s contract following his free transfer from West Ham in 2000 – on the advice of then Hammers boss Harry Redknapp.

The clause stipulated that Ruddock would be fined every time he went over his ‘recommended weight’, 99.8kg.

Jordan wrote in his autobiography: “On approaching West Ham I discovered he was a free transfer, although he did have a weighty salary – which was not the only weighty thing about him.

“Harry Redknapp, the West Ham manager at the time, told me to put in a weight clause.

“So I decided to put a 10 per cent penalty on the contract we were proposing to offer him if he was over the recommended weight of 99.8kg, which by the way was still frigging huge.”

According to reports, Ruddock was hit with no fewer than eight fines.

Spencer Prior and the sheep testicle

English defender Spencer Prior had a rather bizarre contract clause inserted in the deal that saw him sign for Cardiff from Manchester City in 2001.

Prior was told he had to have “a physical liaison with a sheep and eat sheep’s testicles”.

Then Cardiff City chairman Sam Hammam told Sky Sports at the time: “It’s simple.

“With Spencer being non-Welsh, he needs to prove to the people of Wales that he understands the place – then he can become a true leader.”