Sheffield Wednesday icon Carlton Palmer: Big Ron Atkinson helped me cheat drugs test

Carlton Palmer has claimed 'Big Ron' Atkinson helped him fake a drugs test.

Palmer, who made nearly 250 appearances for the Owls across two spells, told a Wednesday podcast the pair used a physio’s urine sample when he was called upon in the 1989-90 season.

Palmer told The Owl Sanctuary: “It’s what I used to smoke. I like a spliff.

“I got drug-tested the week before and you normally don’t get drug-tested two games on the trot.”

Ron Atkinson has denied all knowledge of the incident.

“So we’re playing Crystal Palace – on the Thursday night I’m on the wacky baccy – and then Ron says, ‘You’re up again’.

“I said, ‘Gaffer, I need a word’. So we had to get the physio to p**s in a bottle and pass it through.”

The incident became folklore among some sections of the Wednesday support, who developed the chant: “We’ve got Carlton Palmer, he smokes marijuana.”

According to The Sun, Atkinson, who left Wednesday in 1991 to manage Aston Villa, has denied all knowledge of the incident.