Throughout the history of football, many players have been given the label “dirty player”. Some have lived up to the label, while some have been unfairly tarnished. Last Word on Football has looked back and come up with a first team and substitutes of the dirtiest players to have ever played the game.
Players with a long list of red and yellow cards. Players, in some cases, despite maybe not being a hardman, could wind up the opposition with ease, and those players who would, without hesitation (often behind the referee’s back), take the law into their own hands.
Whatever your opinion is of them, one thing is for certain: a game involving these players is always going to be interesting.
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The Dirtiest Players in the Game Ever: First Eleven and Substitutes
GK – Volkan Demirel
The Turkish shot-stopper was a player who liked to be heard, seen, and ideally in the thick of the action. Once kneed a Galatasaray player between the legs and was sent off at the World Cup for chasing Germany’s Jurgen Kohler and pushing him.
FB – Ben Thatcher
A tough-tackling defender who, on occasion, reverted to using his elbow instead of his feet. In a match against Sunderland, Thatcher, who was playing for Wimbledon at the time, chased a loose ball with winger Nicky Summerbee and proceeded to launch an unprovoked elbow into Summerbee’s face, knocking him out cold. The referee failed to see the incident but he was later banned.
A few years later, he was at it again, this time elbowing Portsmouth’s Pedro Mendes in the face, giving him a broken jaw. He was banned again.
He has also given David Beckham a couple of broken ribs, stamped on a Polish player while playing for Wales, and gave an opponent a punctured lung during a “friendly” in China
FB – Mark Dennis
To say Mark Dennis was a no-nonsense fullback would be an understatement. His tough tackling earned him 12 red cards during the late 1970s and the 1980s, a period in the game when tough tackling was a part of the game referees were much more lenient. One red card resulted in an eight-game ban for elbowing Tottenham’s Ossie Ardiles.
He also amassed a further 64 yellow cards during his 12-year career. It is of little surprise that Dennis was known as the original “Psycho” before it was passed on to Stuart Pearce.
CD – Sergio Ramos
It cannot be argued that Sergio Ramos is one of the greatest centre-backs ever. However, no player has ever received more cards in La Liga or the Champions League, or in El Clásico for Real Madrid or for Spain. The Real legend racked up 26 red cards in 657 appearances while there and added a further four after he left.
In total, Ramos played for four clubs and also for his country, and he received 30 red cards and 268 yellows. An exceptional player, but one prone to being overly aggressive and reckless in the tackle.
CD – Kevin Muscat
12 red cards may not be as bad as some on this list, but Kevin Muscat’s tackling is legendary, and not in a good way. Named the “dirtiest player in football history” by Spanish website El Gol Digital, Muscat was a player who genuinely scared opposition players.
Even if you weren’t scared of him, there was a chance he could end your career. Muscat made one horrible challenge on Matty Holmes, which resulted in a broken tibia that required skin grafts and a metal bolt inserted into his ankle. It ended his career, and later he won damages in court.
According to Talksport, Muscat also stood on an opponent’s head, elbowed another, and threatened to break a youngster’s legs.
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DM – Gerardo Bedoya
The player who holds the record for the most red cards in football history. The Colombian was sent off 45 times in 316 appearances. One straight red card was for an elbow followed by a kick to the head of a rival player. He was given a 15-game ban. It’s little wonder why Bedoya played just 316 games in 20 years.
CM – Joey Barton
Joey Barton is as dirty off the field as he was on it. Off the field, amongst others, he was given a six-month prison sentence, a further four-month suspended sentence for a training ground bust-up with a teammate, and also received a fine of six weeks’ wages after stubbing a lit cigar out in a youth player’s eye. On the field, he was charged three times with violent conduct by the Football Association.
He was sent off for punching Blackburn’s Morten Gamst Pedersen and given a 12-game ban following his red card at Manchester City, where he elbowed and kneed Carlos Tevez and attempted to headbutt Vincent Kompany.
CM – Gareth Barry
The Premier League’s record appearance maker, with 653, is an inclusion that may come as a surprise to many. However, he also holds the record for the most yellow cards with 123 and most fouls with 633. Six red cards can also be added to a player who, according to the statistics, wasn’t as clean in the tackle as some will believe.
ST – Duncan Ferguson
A tough, no-nonsense striker, big Dunc holds the Premier League red card record for a striker with eight. Sent to prison for assault in the mid-90s after headbutting an opposition player, and also banned for 12 games. Several other on-field incidents cost him a substantial amount in fines.
Regarded as a legend at Everton, it’s a case of what might have been if he had remained on the field longer than he did.
ST – Luis Suarez
Some strikers enjoy the physical side of the game, some a little too much, but former Liverpool and Barcelona striker Suarez led the line for club and country slightly differently. Capable of scoring great goals, but also capable of sinking his teeth into the opposition.
There was a four-month ban for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup, a ten-match ban for doing the same to Branislav Ivanovic in a Premier League game, and also a seven-game ban while playing for Ajax for, again, biting an opposition player.
ST – Diego Costa
An eye for goal, but his dedication to winding up opponents and getting himself into trouble was second to none. He had a reputation for biting, stamping, lashing out, and causing many arguments between the opposition and his teammates as he could.
Many times, he would get away with a hit when the referee’s back was turned. Sent off and banned many times during his career, but those are the times he was spotted; countless others he wasn’t.
Substitutes
Harold Schumacher
Vinny Jones
Eric Cantona
Roy Keane
Ron Harris
Wayne Rooney
Pablo Alfaro
Felipe Melo
Graeme Souness
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