Five of the most outrageous acts committed by a captain on the football field

#3 Steven Gerrard

As far as captains go, Steven Gerrard was largely a good one – even if he was prone to the odd costly error, like his slip against Chelsea in 2013/14 which arguably cost Liverpool the Premier League title. For the most part, though, he led by example for both Liverpool and England, proving to be a key performer throughout his captaincy stint. An unfortunate incident in March 2015 though showed he wasn’t always squeaky clean.

In a bad-tempered game against heated rivals Manchester United, Gerrard actually started on the bench despite being Liverpool’s captain and leader. It was an odd time for Gerrard anyway, as he had only a handful of games left as Liverpool captain as he’d already announced a move at the end of the season to LA Galaxy. United were leading the game 1-0 through a Juan Mata goal when Gerrard was introduced early into the second half, and the captain was looking to make one final impact against his rivals.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the impact he was hoping for. Gerrard thundered into a violent tackle on Mata, and when United’s midfielder Ander Herrera looked to respond with a tough tackle of his own, Gerrard responded by stamping on him. Referee Martin Atkinson then had no choice but to brandish a red card, and Gerrard was sent off after just 38 seconds on the field – one of the quickest sendings off in football history.

Although Gerrard apologized for the incident after the game, it was still an ugly blight on a great career, and meant that due to his suspension, his Liverpool career came to an even quicker end than it should’ve done.