The English Premiership is renowned for being one of the hardest and most keenly contested leagues in the world. Crunching tackles are common place and many a player would never dream of jumping out of a tackle. But the Premiership’s hardest players have some way to go to compete with one female footballer who is taking competitiveness to a whole new level. 20 year old American defender Elizabeth Lambert certainly gets stuck in when she plays as this video shows:

Lambert has been banned by her college team for her antics in that match, where she was kicking, punching and yanking opponents to the ground by their hair. Lambert is quoted in the Daily Mail as saying “I let my emotions get the best of me in a heated situation,” you can say that again. Whilst hard men in the Premier League may not go as far as the American defender during a game, some genuine tough players have played in England in the past. Here is a look at the top ten hardest players to ever play in the Premiership:

10: Jaap Stam – The 6 ft 3 in Manchester United and Netherlands central defender was certainly a formidable opponent to come up against. Stam was a straight character who was said to have a serious approach to football, and he went into every tackle as if it were his last. Centre forwards rarely had the better of battles with the Dutchman as his build and physique was up there with anyone. In his PSV days it is rumoured that a fight on the field immediately ended as soon as Stam came towards the confrontation. He definitely wasn’t a man to be messed with.

9: Colin Hendry – An old fashioned central defender, Hendry was as hard as granite and had an uncompromising approach to the art of defending. His tough nature meant that if the ball was in the air he would go and head it and nothing would get in his way. He once described a swinging elbow as shrugging off another player and was banned for six international matches as a result. The defender led Blackburn to the FA Premier League title back in 1995 and had courage in abundance, which he will need plenty of when he stars in I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here later this year.

8: Neil Ruddock – ‘Razor’ Ruddock was involved in plenty of bust ups during his football career, most famously clashing with Frenchmen Eric Cantona and Patrick Vieira. He seemed to enjoy dishing punishment out to his opponents and brought plenty of steel to the Liverpool defence for a number of years. His reputation as a hard man goes before him and to this day when he still appears in testimonials and charity matches he doesn’t exactly back out of tackles, as celebrity Tim Lovejoy will testify after geting his comeuppance after taking the mickey out of him.

7: Julian Dicks – The West Ham defender would have been more suited to playing football before his time, as he was a traditional hard man. The tough tackler had the nickname ‘The Terminator’ and many of his challenges were enough to make your eyes water. The shaven-headed defender sure had the look of a hard man and his no nonsense approach endeared him to the Hammers’ fans. It seems since retiring he hasn’t lost any of his aggression either, as Dicks has admitted that he has smashed his golf clubs in anger after losing his rag after a fluffed shot.

6: Marco Materazzi – The Italian defender is known as ‘The Matrix’ due to his unpredictable personality and wasn’t adverse to a crunching tackle every now and again. Materazzi seemed to have a switch that when he got angry he took it out on his opponents and illustrated that during his time in the Premiership with Everton. He knew how to wind up opponents as well as the infamous incident with French legend Zidane proves. He was head butted by Zidane after allegedly insulting the Frenchman’s family and got a taste of what he himself dished out during his career.

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