'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Over its 27-year history, the Premier League has provided fans with an astonishing amount of action, entertainment, and world-class football. Of course, England's top flight is also no stranger to controversy.
There have been a fair few controversial characters – both on the pitch and off it – throughout the history of the Premier League, with some being viewed as villains by the fans and others as cult heroes.
Here, then, in no particular order, are the 10 most controversial characters in Premier League history.
#1 Eric Cantona
Still known as 'The King' amongst Manchester United fans, it's fair to say that Eric Cantona helped to revolutionise English football during the Premier League's early years. Without the success of the mercurial Frenchman – who won six major trophies, including four Premier League titles with the Red Devils – world-class overseas stars may never have headed to England.
However, there's simply no disputing that Cantona was also a hugely controversial character throughout his time at Old Trafford. Even the way he arrived at United, directly from bitter rivals Leeds United after helping the Whites win the old First Division title, was somewhat divisive amongst fans.
Cantona already had a somewhat chequered past from his time in France, where he'd found himself in hot water for violence, petulance, and a general disregard for authority. But nothing could've prepared fans of English football for quite what he'd bring.
The Frenchman was brilliant on the pitch, but his dark side often shone through too. He was red-carded on three occasions during the 1993-94 season, but the 1994-95 saw him take things to another level.
In perhaps the most notorious incident in Premier League history, Cantona was sent off in a match against Crystal Palace for a petulant kick at Richard Shaw. He then proceeded to leap into the crowd in order to kung-fu kick a fan who'd showered him with abuse.
Cantona was not only charged with assault and slapped with 120 hours of community service, but he was also banned by the FA for a period of eight months. Upon his return, the Frenchman was able to keep his nose clean – and led United to another two Premier League title wins.
But due to this incident, as well as his consistently eccentric behaviour, Cantona remains one of the Premier League's most controversial figures.
#2 John Terry
Former Chelsea defender John Terry is still renowned as a true hero at Stamford Bridge, where a famous banner picturing him and reading "Captain. Leader. Legend" still hangs. However, despite plenty of success throughout his career, the England international was still a controversial figure who was largely despised by opposing fans.
Terry's first brush with controversy came not long after he'd broken into Chelsea's first team during the 2000-01 campaign. In September 2001, the defender – along with three teammates – was fined by Chelsea after behaving inappropriately towards American tourists.
Given Terry was just 20 at the time, the incident was put down to the naivety of youth. And for the next few years at least, he stayed away from controversy. During that period, not only did Terry become captain for both Chelsea and England, but he also led his side to two Premier League title wins.
However, the dark side of Terry emerged again in early 2010, when it was alleged that he'd engaged in an affair with the ex-girlfriend of his former Chelsea and England teammate Wayne Bridge. The Blues captain denied the affair had ever taken place, but in a much-publicised incident, Bridge refused to shake his hand prior to a match between Chelsea and Bridge's new side Manchester City.
The allegations led to then-England boss Fabio Capello stripping him of the England captaincy – although he was restored to the spot in the following year. Unfortunately, worse controversy was to follow in 2011 when Terry was accused of racially abusing QPR's Anton Ferdinand during a match between their respective clubs.
Terry was charged by the Crown Prosecution Service over the incident. And while he was cleared of the charge in a court of law, the FA still found him guilty and banned him for four games, while also stripping him – once again – of the England captaincy.
The Chelsea captain ended his career in 2018 after winning a total of 15 major trophies, but remains one of the Premier League's most controversial figures.
#3 Roy Keane
Now renowned as one of the Premier League's most polarizing pundits – as we saw during his spat with Jurgen Klopp this week – Roy Keane initially rose to fame as one of the Premier League's greatest-ever midfielders.
As part of the all-conquering Manchester United side of the 1990's and early 2000's, Keane won 12 major trophies during his time at Old Trafford, including seven Premier League titles. However, the Irishman was also no stranger to controversy, largely due to his combative nature both on and off the pitch.
Over his career, Keane received 13 red cards, seven of which came in the Premier League – a joint record for English football. Many of those red cards came due to violent conduct, including ones against Crystal Palace and Newcastle United. But it wasn't just his explosive tendencies on the pitch that made Keane controversial.
The Irishman famously hit out verbally at multiple people during his career, including part of United's less vocal fanbase, who became known as the "prawn sandwich brigade" after the rant. This extended to a number of his teammates, including Rio Ferdinand and Darren Fletcher, in an incident that led to the eventual end of his Premier League career.
The most notorious incident, though, came in the 2000-01 Premier League season. Keane was sent off in the Manchester derby after a horrible tackle on City's Alf-Inge Haaland. But when the Irishman's autobiography was released a little more than a year later, more details came to light.
An infamous anecdote appeared to suggest that Keane had deliberately fouled Haaland in an attempt to injure him, as the Norwegian had seemingly taunted the Irishman when he'd injured his knee years prior.
Despite the fact that the FA charged him with bringing the game into disrepute – banning him for five matches and fining him £150k – Keane remained remorseless. He even stated that he'd probably do the same thing again if given a chance.
#4 Alan Pardew
The Premier League has seen a number of great managers over the years, but while it has also had plenty of controversial bosses, there are few that can top Alan Pardew in that regard. Pardew is currently unattached after a period in the Netherlands with ADO Den Haag. But with plenty of experience under his belt, he's likely to return to the Premier League at some point.
If he does, then we can probably expect more controversy from the former Crystal Palace midfielder. Since he became a Premier League boss with West Ham United in the 2003-04 campaign, few managers have been involved in more notorious incidents.
Plenty of Premier League managers get into spats with the bosses of their rival clubs, but Pardew has often taken things to another level. In 2006, for instance, he clashed with then-Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, first hitting out at him for fielding a side without a single English player in a Champions League match.
Later, when Pardew's West Ham side defeated Wenger's Gunners in Premier League action, he celebrated so heavily that the usually mild-mannered Frenchman lunged at him and had to be restrained by the fourth official. And while managing Newcastle in 2014, Pardew found himself under fire again when he labelled then-Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini a "f****** old c***".
Equally questionable was Pardew's behaviour as a Premier League television pundit. In a notorious incident that's since gone viral on YouTube, Pardew made an appearance on Match of the Day 2 in 2009, and compared a tackle from Chelsea's Michael Essien on Manchester City's Ched Evans to a rape.
Pardew's most controversial moment, though, came in March 2014. While managing Crystal Palace in a game against Hull City, the then-53-year-old launched a headbutt against Tigers player David Meyler, and was subsequently banished to the stands. The FA then banned him for a further seven games, and slapped him with a £60k fine.
#5 Luis Suarez
Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez – who has recently made a move from Barcelona to Atletico Madrid – undoubtedly stands as one of the most talented players in Premier League history. He didn't win any trophies during his time in England, but his record of 69 goals in 110 Premier League games for Liverpool is almost unmatched.
However, Suarez was also a magnet for controversy during his time in England, with a number of unsavoury incidents threatening to undermine the great work he did on the pitch. In fact, to non-Liverpool fans, the Uruguayan is largely seen as a pantomime villain.
Early on in his career at Anfield, Suarez was able to keep his nose clean. However, early in the 2011-12 campaign – his first full one with Liverpool – he soon courted controversy during the Reds' 1-1 draw with Manchester United.
Suarez was accused of racially abusing United defender Patrice Evra, making a number of references to the colour of his skin while insulting him during the game. The Uruguayan denied the charge – and was backed to the hilt by Liverpool – but was still found guilty after an investigation, and was slapped with an eight-match ban and a £40k fine by the FA.
To make matters even worse, in the next meeting between the two clubs, Suarez refused to shake Evra's hand in the pre-match period. This further cemented his reputation for villainy – even after he was forced by Liverpool's owners to issue an apology.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the final controversy Suarez was involved with. In April 2013, during a game between Liverpool and Chelsea, the striker was caught on camera biting opposing defender Branislav Ivanovic – echoing a previous biting incident that took place while he was at Ajax.
Suarez was handed a 10-game ban for the incident, and then attempted to force a move away from Liverpool. That didn't happen, and the 2013-14 season saw the Uruguayan named as the PFA Player's Player of the Year for his performances.
However, following another biting incident in the 2014 World Cup, Suarez was banned from football for four months – and cemented his move to Barcelona during the ban. Not only had the Premier League lost a tremendous talent, but they'd also lost one of their most controversial figures, too.
#6 Adrian Mutu
Unlike sports such as cycling and athletics, football thankfully hasn't been embroiled in many controversial incidents involving drugs. However, there have been a handful of examples of drug abuse throughout the game's history, and most of them involve recreational substances rather than PED's.
One such incident in 2005 made Romanian striker Adrian Mutu – then of Chelsea – into one of the Premier League's most controversial figures. Signed by the Blues from Italian side Parma – where he'd scored an impressive 22 goals in 36 games – Mutu was supposed to spearhead Chelsea's Premier League title challenge.
However, after netting six goals in his first season at Stamford Bridge, Mutu quickly found himself out of favour with new boss Jose Mourinho. The duo clashed badly when Mutu accused Mourinho of falsely claiming he was injured in order to prevent him from playing for Romania in a 2006 World Cup qualifier.
Worse was still to come, though. Shortly after the clash, Mutu tested positive for a banned substance – reputedly cocaine, although the Romanian denied this – and was banned from football for seven months for the infraction.
This was the last straw for Chelsea, who subsequently terminated his contract, essentially writing off a potential transfer fee for him. Months later, the Blues then looked to seek compensation from Mutu for the incident, and after a long period in various courtrooms, the Romanian was forced to pay a substantial fee to his former club.
Despite spending less than two full seasons in the Premier League, Mutu remains a highly controversial character to this day due to this incident.
#7 Jose Mourinho
One of the most successful managers of the Premier League era, Jose Mourinho has won the Premier League title on three occasions with Chelsea. He was also able to capture a number of lesser trophies both with the Blues and later at the helm of Manchester United.
However, the Portuguese boss – who is now in charge of Tottenham Hotspur – has also courted plenty of controversy during his periods in England. And perhaps no other boss in Premier League history has dominated the pages of tabloids quite like he has.
Mourinho arrived in the Premier League with Chelsea in the summer of 2004 following his Champions League win with Porto. He immediately marked himself out by calling himself 'The Special One' in his introductory press conference.
Indeed, the Portuguese had an immediate impact – leading Chelsea to back-to-back Premier League titles in his first two seasons at the club. However, despite the success, controversy was never too far away from him.
Mourinho had famed spats with fellow managers such as Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson – even labelling the former a "specialist in failure" and a "voyeur" – and was quick to hit out at all forms of authority, from the Premier League and the FA all the way up to UEFA.
Later in his career, Mourinho has become even more notorious for falling out with his own players and even the staff at his club. His much-publicised second stint at Chelsea saw him win a third Premier League title, but ended in controversy when he clashed badly with team doctor Eva Carneiro, an incident that supposedly caused results to slip.
At Manchester United, meanwhile, Mourinho had major clashes with players such as Paul Pogba and Luke Shaw, and ended up leaving Old Trafford under a black cloud. The jury is still out on his current regime at Tottenham, but one thing seems certain – more controversy is almost bound to follow the Portuguese boss at some stage.
#8 Mario Balotelli
When Italian striker Mario Balotelli joined Manchester City in the summer of 2010, fans of the Premier League were excited. The forward was renowned as one of Europe's most exciting young prospects at the time, and despite some disciplinary problems at Inter Milan, hopes were high for him.
However, to say that Balotelli's wild reputation on and off the pitch overshadowed his performances for City would be an understatement. Seemingly from moment one, the Italian was involved in a series of controversial and downright bizarre incidents that turned him into a cult figure amongst Premier League fans.
Where do you start? There was the incident that saw him found with £5000 cash in his pocket after crashing his car, and when asked to explain why he had such an amount, he reportedly replied "because I am rich".
Another incident supposedly saw him throw darts at a youth team player, while another saw him reportedly set off fireworks inside his house, causing a fire.
Somehow, Balotelli seemed unfazed by all the controversy – famously unveiling a t-shirt that read "Why always me?" following a goal against Manchester United. Unfortunately though, the Italian's performances on the pitch eventually began to suffer, and the disciplinary issues that'd haunted him at Inter began to shine through.
The 2011-12 season saw him getting sent off on four occasions in Premier League action, and an incident that saw him kick Tottenham's Scott Parker also saw him charged by the FA with violent conduct. By the end of 2012-13, City had seen enough and sold him to AC Milan. And while he returned to the Premier League in 2014-15 with Liverpool, he failed to make an impact and quickly headed back to Italy.
Even then though, controversy was never far away from Balotelli. During his stint at Liverpool – which only lasted a year – he managed to earn a suspension and fine from the FA following a social media post that contained anti-Semitic and racist references.
#9 Paolo Di Canio
Italian forward Paolo Di Canio spent seven seasons in the Premier League, playing for Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham and Charlton Athletic. His fiery character meant that he was never too far away from controversy.
Di Canio bought a notorious reputation with him from his previous stints in Italy – with sides such as Juventus, Napoli and Milan – as well as his time in Scotland with Celtic. The forward fell out with teammates, club owners and – naturally – the authorities, and so when he joined Wednesday in 1997, their fans expected fireworks.
At first, though, the only fireworks they saw were on the pitch. Di Canio scored 14 Premier League goals in the 1997-98 campaign, finishing as the club’s top scorer and becoming a fan favourite in the process. However, early in the 1998-99 Premier League season, the Italian lost the plot entirely and found himself embroiled in a notorious incident.
Red-carded in a game against Arsenal, Di Canio blew his top and shoved referee Paul Alcock to the ground, stunning fans and observers alike as such behaviour had never really been seen in the Premier League before. The Italian showed no remorse, and was eventually banned for 11 games for the incident.
The ban was enough to trigger Wednesday to sell Di Canio to fellow Premier League side West Ham, with Hammers boss Harry Redknapp even admitting that he was taking a risk in signing him. However, Di Canio repaid his faith in full, scoring plenty of spectacular goals and endearing himself to Hammers fans in the process.
From there, the Italian managed to largely stay away from any controversy, despite a fall-out with West Ham boss Glenn Roeder in 2003. But his explosive side quickly emerged again during a stint as Sunderland boss in 2013.
Not only were Black Cats fans not too enthused about Di Canio taking over, but his reign only lasted six months anyway. He was fired early into the 2013-14 season after falling out with his own players – rendering his position untenable.
#10 Diego Costa
Spanish striker Diego Costa only spent a short period of time in the Premier League – three full seasons with Chelsea to be exact. But while he was there, one thing was for certain - he was never far away from controversy, with a number of unsavoury incidents marking him out during his period at Stamford Bridge.
It’s fair to say that Costa was absolutely fantastic during his first season at the club. He scored 20 Premier League goals in just 26 appearances during 2014-15 and was arguably the catalyst for Chelsea’s eventual title triumph during that campaign.
However, he showed his controversial side early on, when he was accused of taunting Seamus Coleman during a Premier League game with Everton following an own goal from the Irish defender. Later, he was involved in a nasty incident during a match with Liverpool, as he was spotted stamping on Emre Can – an incident that earned him a three-match ban from the FA.
2015-16 meanwhile saw him earn more infamy when he clashed with Arsenal players during a London derby, slapping Laurent Koscielny before goading defender Gabriel into kicking him – earning the Brazilian a largely undeserved red card.
Later, he was seen stamping on Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel, and then received a red card in a match with Everton – a game that also saw him clash with Gareth Barry and seemingly spit in the direction of the referee. And his season ended with him heavily involved in Chelsea’s violent match with Tottenham, where he was eye-gouged by Moussa Dembele during a brawl.
Costa even left Chelsea under a black cloud – reportedly being told via text message by then-boss Antonio Conte that he was no longer needed. After claiming Chelsea were treating him “like a criminal”, he was able to secure a move back to Atletico Madrid, and hasn’t returned to the Premier League since.
