Top TEN Hardest Premier League Footballers Of All Time
5: Patrick Vieira – The Arsenal midfielder wasn’t your typical hard man in terms of thuggish behaviour, but he certainly knew how to commit fouls. The Frenchman wasn’t a psychopath like so many of the traditional hard footballers, but he brought some steel to Wenger’s youthful and skilful team. During his time in the Premiership he picked up ten red cards which is some effort, and had disciplinary problems throughout his time in England. If he returns to the Premier League with Arsenal as has been rumoured, England football fans will get another taste this hard man.
4: Vinnie Jones – A member of Wimbledon’s Crazy Gang, Jones wasn’t afraid to get stuck in on the football pitch. He was well known in English football for his aggressive style and intimidating demeanour and certainly wasn’t a player to mess with. Infamously remembered for grabbing Gascoigne’s privates, Jones was an important part of Wimbledon’s 1988 FA Cup final victory when he went head-to-head with fellow Liverpool hard man Steve McMahon. Since retiring, Jones now plays hard men on the big screen, featuring as a British gangster in many a movie.
3: Duncan Ferguson – The Everton and Newcastle striker often threw his weight around on the pitch and used his height and weight to his advantage. He was regularly on the wrong side of referees for his dominating style of play in which the odd elbow was never far away. Off the pitch Ferguson has had four convictions for assault and most famously was unimpressed when he found two burglars in his house. Ferguson confronted the pair and one of them subsequently spent time in hospital, showing that he wasn’t a person you’d want to get on the wrong side of.
2: Stuart Pearce – Pearce typifies what it means to play with passion and was always a player who was 100% committed. Nicknamed ‘Psycho’, Pearce was a tough defender who had a distinguished football career, playing for Nottingham Forest amongst others. He was so hard that he even tried to run off a broken leg and on another occasion just got on with the game when Boli head butted him in Malmo. His hard but fair attitude was respected across the country, and he showed what football meant to him by screaming after scoring a penalty for England against Spain at Euro 96.
1: Roy Keane – The Manchester United midfielder was so hard that it was thought that even Sir Alex Ferguson was frightened of him. The uncompromising midfielder was at the heart of United’s Premiership success for a number of years and led the side to many domestic and European trophies. In his most infamous incident on the pitch, he effectively ended the career of Manchester City’s Alf-Inge Haaland with a horrendous revenge tackle where he showed his studs. His determined, aggressive and competitive style of play makes him the ultimate Premiership hard man.
Is there anyone not on this list who you think deserves to be there? How do these hard men compare to the all-time hardest footballers, such as Tommy Smith and Dave Mackay? And can anyone currently playing in the FA Premier League claim to be as hard as those who have gone before them?
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Uuuuhhh… Patrick Vieira IS back in England, only with Man City.
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Sorry Bud, But Keane and Pearce would not come near big Dunc if we are on about Hard Men…nowhere near!
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What a load of rubbish. These are the hardest players in the eyes of the media.
On the pitch then you can’t look past Kevin Ball. Vinnie Jones said that he tried to hurt Ball but Bally got back up and clattered Vinny Jones about 5 minutes later, hurting Jones. He said he’s the hardest player he’s played against.
As for Vieira, I saw him go in for a 50-50 with Gavin McCann at the SoL years ago, the ball burst, McCann walked off, and Vieira was carried off.
In my opinion, Kevin Ball, Alan Shearer, Kevin Davies, Patrice Evra (who was a cage fighter in France) and Emerson Thome should be on the list.
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Hard, you call these blokes hard, they are all pussies compared to Chopper Harris and Norman hunter.
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What a totally useless list. What No Chopper Harris, Norman “bites yer legs” Hunter, Dave McKay, Billy Bremner all of these guys would have eaten your list alive
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Jarra: PAtrice Evra was never a cage fighter…lol…involved in proffessional football since he was 11!
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chris Reply:
October 25th, 2010 at 11:01 pm
Daz – Patrice Evra was a street fighter look at this link http://www.redcafe.net/f6/evra-streetfighter-shoplifter-156296/
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Nigel de Jong
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Anyway, it’s a useless article. It would depend if you are talking, people who have played football who you wouldn’t mess with, or just hard – fair players. The list given, is generally the ‘wouldn’t mess with’ option I would say.
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David Batty?
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What, no Tommy Smith, Nobby Stiles, or Norman Hunter? How long have you watched football for?
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