by Avril Defleurey

Created on: June 02, 2010

Britain’s own foul mouthed Scot, love him or hate him Gordon Ramsay has made his mark and is here to stay. Born on the 8th November 1966, at Elderslie Renfrewshire Scotland, Ramsay only lived in his mother country for the first five years of his life.  In 1971 the family moved to Bishopston in Stratford upon Avon England. His father, also called Gordon described in Gordon Juniors own words as ‘a hard drinking womanizer’ was an alcoholic who regularly abused his wife and children. Gordon Senior went through various jobs, regularly losing them through his foul temper. His only love besides the inevitable booze seems to have been his country music band. Young Gordon was trailed from home to home along with his mother Helen and siblings Diane, Ronnie and Yvonne until at the age of sixteen, when he and Diane left home.

Although Gordon Ramsey was an aspiring footballer his football career was short lived. He started out by playing in the under 14’s at Warwickshire at the age of twelve followed by a trial spell in two non league matches in Oxfords FA youth cup, where he was spotted by a talent scout. He was then, from the age of fifteen to eighteen at Glasgow Rangers on trial; too many injuries finally ended the football dream in1984. Taking up residence in a Flat in Banbury Oxfordshire with his sister Diane he had his first taste of life to come when Diane found him a job in the restaurant where she was a waitress. Having seen his football career fall apart he took the first steps to his future by enrolling at age nineteen at North Oxford Technical College (now known as Oxford and Cherwell Valley College) to study hotel management.

In the late 1980’s Ramsay was commis chef at Wroxton house Hotel Banbury. Then he ran the kitchen at the sixty seat restaurant at the Wickham Arms. Moving on to Harveys in London where he spent two years ten months working under abusive Marco Pierre White, before moving on to Le Gavroche  in Mayfair London. One year later he was invited to work in Hotel Diva in the French Alps. Paris then lured the young Scot with a taste for French cuisine which led to Ramsay spending three years altogether in France. Before returning to London a year later, he cooked on a private yacht called Idlewild in Bermuda. On his return to London, Chelsea to be precise in 1993, he took up the position of head chef at La Tante Claire. Ramsay, still urging to own his own restaurant later took up the offer of a ten percent

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