The Premier League has Chelsea's Diego Costa sitting pretty at the top of the goalscoring charts, which is quite a surprise despite his quality. But that's never been in doubt about the Brazil-born Spanish international - what's really surprising this season is that he's actually managed to play all 11 games so far.
That's right - no suspensions for that characteristic stamp, kick, bite or mouthful at the referee. Will injury curtail that amazing run from one of football's most hardcore characters? Let's see. What we do know is that while opposition fans may despise him, most ex-pros love Diego's style.
Champions like Gary Neville & Martin Keown have already expressed their love for the tough Spaniard's no-nonsense physical style, as a tribute to the older, wilder days of football. His international team-mate (and ex-derby-rival) Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid is another player to adopt a brutally physical style on the pitch to great effect.
With that in mind, we've decided to go back into the annals of football history and look at other players who would have given the likes of Sergio Ramos & Diego Costa a good run for their money on a football pitch. It's time to go back in time and find out who we've picked as our top 10 rough-and-tumble hardmen in professional football!
#10 Duncan Ferguson
One of the most famous men to ever don the Everton shirt, word on the street is that they don't call him 'Big Dunc' for nothing. Duncan Ferguson has proved his worth as a true street fighter on and off the football pitch plenty of times!
Where do we even begin? Some might say his first 'Big' moment came back in 1994 when he was playing up top for Rangers in his home country of Scotland. During a routine 4-0 rout of Raith Rovers, John McStay was to feel the full wrath of 'the Dunc' as he was headbutted in full force by Ferguson. Somehow (a testament to the rough-and-tumble nature of Scottish football back then) he was only yellow-carded. Upon review, however, Duncan Ferguson was charged with 3 months in jail for assault - on top of a 12-match ban!
That was far from the end of that, however. The 1.93m tall number 9 was right back at it wearing the Evertonian colours, bringing his goalscoring prowess and lucha libre style to the English Premier League. There, he amassed a fearful 8 red cards, with the final one being the most famous.
After a huge melee with Wigan during his 2nd spell at Everton, the incident ended in a punch for Paul Scharner and another vicious headbutt on Pascal Chimbonda. He earned himself a 7-match ban for that, cementing his record as 'the Diego Costa before Diego Costa'!
Off the pitch, he garnered a total of 4 counts of assault and even beat up 2 very, very stupid robbers who dared come into the house of 'the Dunc'! He managed to 'disarm' one of them with his trademark style (the robber ended up in hospital for 3 days) before the police caught the other. In 2003, just 2 years later, another thief got so badly beat up he tried to press charges on the striker - for assault!
"Hand on heart, I never started anything, never once. That’s the truth. I finished a few." – On his notorious tendency to fight.
#9 Patrick Vieira
Arsenal's Invincibles had one big name at their forefront - and that name was Patrick Vieira.
The Senegalese-born Frenchman is one of the game's greatest footballers ever, and he has been sought after by almost every major team in club football. A Euro and World-Cup winning player with France, Vieira's aggressive, powerful and intelligent football has always made him a gigantic fixture in every side he's played in. A captain after Keown's retirement for Arsenal, he was given the same honour for France but managed to convince Zidane to return in 2006.
At Arsenal, he was the brawn and power that drove them to an incredible unbeaten run which erupted with the Pizzagate scandal of Old Trafford. 3 Premier League titles (including a golden one in 2003/2004) were piled up with another 3 Serie A titles for Inter Milan before his 5th FA Cup was collected in Manchester City colours.
His versatility and pace enabled him to bounce across every part of the pitch and his furious feud with Manchester United's Roy Keane was the sign of an alpha captain at the top of his game making a mark on the opponent - before a ball had even been kicked at times!
Over 100 caps for France meant that the powerful, tall and energetic midfielder was every bit as dominant a force at international level as he was at club level.
“If there was a fight, it would take a long time to beat him and I would end up with a few cuts.” - On fighting Roy Keane
#8 Roy Keane
Roy Keane was the beating heart of the Manchester United side that so many loved to hate in the late 90s, as they dominated England.
An absolute lynchpin of their 1999 treble-winning side and of several double-winning sides, Roy Keane was a powerful, brutal and intelligent midfielder who pulled up the level of every player around him. His fiery temper often got him over the edge at times, as proven by his powerful stamp on current England manager Gareth Southgate (which got him suspended for 3 matches) in the FA Cup. That was just one of 11 times he would be sent off for Alex Ferguson's side.
In 1997, Keane became the United captain but he injured himself trying to tackle Leeds United player Alf-Inge Haland, who thought he was faking it. Years later, Keane would exact what was an incredible revenge of the player, which would earn him a £150,000 fine.
He would go on to complete an impressive haul of 20 major honours and 2 big individual honours (FWA Footballer of the Year & PFA Players' Player of the Year 2000). His falling-out with the United hierarchy was just as unsavory as his exchange with Haland - but it's all in a days' work for the Republic of Ireland assistant manager.
“I’d waited long enough. I f***ing hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you c**t. And don’t ever stand over me sneering about fake injuries.” - On fouling Haland.
#7 Graeme Souness
Liverpool legend-turned-pundit Graeme Souness is possibly the most successful destroyer that club football has ever seen.
With 5 league titles, 3 European Cups and 4 League Cups, Souness remains one of Liverpool's best-ever players. With Souness as captain, Liverpool won a hat-trick of league titles; the final of which was part of a treble. He intimidated opponents around Europe with his tough, physical style (including in his own team) whilst scoring glorious goals and dominating the leagues.
On the road to the 1984 European Cup final, Graeme Souness shattered the jaw of Movila, the Dinamo Bucharest captain, as Liverpool won out 3-1 on aggregate to put them in the final. He left with 56 goals in over 350 appearances to Sampdoria in Italy. He was only a couple of years away from kicking off one of the most hardcore managerial careers in Europe, as Rangers & Galatasaray fans will attest!
"Players who have more great games than other players are the great players." - On great players
#6 Gennaro Gattuso
For most of the noughties, Gennaro Gattuso epitomized the image of the footballing hardman at the highest echelons of football.
Having represented Perugia and then Rangers, the defensive midfielder with the fearsome temper really came into his own with his 1999 move to Italian giants AC Milan. His immense work-rate and defensive nous allowed Milan to thrive on the club stage, and his crazy temper made them a fearful outfit to face.
The fans loved him, his teammates loved him and opponents were absolutely infuriated by him - he was the ideal club superstar. He slapped future teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic when the young Swede was still in Ajax. He throttled Tottenham coach Joe Jordan as Redknapp's Tottenham tried to overwhelm Milan and - as expected - he was tasked with literally breaking down their attacks. That earned him a 5 match ban. He also snatched a yellow card off a Swiss referee's hand in 2012 as his career wound down.
For all his madness, however, he was a huge champion. A 2006 World Cup title was just the icing on the cake with 2 Champions League titles, 2 Serie A titles, 2 Super Cup titles, 2 Supercopa titles, 1 Coppa Italia and 1 Club World Cup medal all hung around his neck.
In true Gattuso style, he celebrated the World Cup win by taking his pants off!
“Either you do things seriously or you don't do them at all” - On a player’s performance
#5 Vinnie Jones
The most memorable face of the Wimbledon Crazy Gang, Vinnie Jones was the captain of one of the Premier League's most memorable teams.
At the age of 19, Jones was working as a hod carrier in construction sites while playing for non-league outfit Wealdstone. By the age of 23, he moved to Wimbledon FC for the first time in his life. He won the FA Cup there in 1988, his only club trophy. Being one of England's most uncompromising midfielders, his career there didn't last long as Leeds United came calling after just 3 years. There he showed a whole new side to his game, only picking up 3 yellow cards.
However, he lost his place in the team and moved on to Sheffield United and then Chelsea. He set the record there for the fastest booking ever - an incredible 3 seconds! The real fun started when he left Chelsea and rejoined Wimbledon in time for the rebranded FA Premier League's first season. Wimbledon stunned everyone, playing some high-octane football to finish as high as 6th in the following seasons. Vinnie Jones and the Crazy Gang, however, would never fade from memory.
His infamous "nut grab" on Paul Gascoigne and the 12 red cards he amassed throughout his playing career are just some of the highlights of the man who has now become a British movie star. Fines, bans, and disciplinary hearings dotted his career, with 2 criminal charges for assault, the cherry on the icing!
"I must have been too high, too wild, too strong or too early, because, after three seconds, I could hardly have been too bloody late" - and it was against his old side Sheffield United too!” – On that booking
#4 Terry Butcher
Born in Singapore, Terry Butcher would go on to typify what became known as "The English Spirit" with his brave, indomitable performances that spanned 3 World Cups and 77 international appearances.
Powerful in the air, Butcher was a lifelong Ipswich Town fan and won the UEFA Cup with them under Bobby Robson in 1981. After the relegation 5 years later, however, he moved on to join player/manager Graeme Souness at Rangers. He captained the Scottish giants to 3 league titles and 2 League Cups in 4 years. A terrible leg break in 1987 forced him to miss most of the season, however, but when he came back, he came back in true style.
The ever-feisty Old Firm fixture of April 1988 was a perfect chance for Butcher to go 'hard' and he received a fine in the fall-out of the match. Later that year, he was investigated by police for blasting in the door of a referee's room but later let off the hook.
His England career was a memorable one, however - that one World Cup qualifier against Sweden in 1989 where he bloodied the shirt for the cause will always spring to mind when people speak of Butcher.
“I said to them last week that I'd like them to win ugly and they certainly won ugly today. That was the ugliest thing I've seen since the ugly sisters fell out of the ugly tree” – On football styles
#3 Billy Bremner
William John Bremner has a statue outside Elland Road to honour the greatest Leeds United player of all time; a man built of "10st of barbed wire". Coincidence? Not at all.
With an FWA Footballer of the Year award, 2 league titles and 2 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Billy Bremner was the beating heart of one of England's most dominant football teams. The cracking midfielder typified much of his team's exhilarating quality on the ball and brutal pressure off it, despite his small stature. He was only 1.65m tall but he stood head and shoulders above most of the league.
In 1964, Bremner was one of the main protagonists in a fiery fixture against Everton that resulted in the referee calling for an anger management break ten minutes before half-time so the players would regain their composure.
Manchester United were one of Leeds' major rivals, and Bremner, as usual, flew into some brutal challenges to remind them of that. His alleged clashes with Brian Clough played a major part in the latter surviving only 43 days as Don Revie's choice captain kept their older traditions alive - despite the new incumbent's criticism of their methods.
In their record-breaking 1968/1969 season, Bremner played each and every match as Leeds only lost 2 matches on the way to setting a 34-match unbeaten run that spilled over into the following campaign.
#2 Dave Mackay
Tottenham and Hearts legend Dave Mackay will always be remembered just as much for his brilliant defensive skills as his massive fire and iron determination to win.
Whilst working as a joiner as a youngster, he played for Scottish side Heart of Midlothian and went on to make a clean sweep of all of his nation's major honours. As captain, his team shattered the British league goalscoring record with 132 strikes notched up in the 1957/1958 season. One year later, English outfit Tottenham Hotspur swooped in with a big-money move to take him to the capital.
2 years later, they won the double as Mackay intimidated players up and down England with his powerful, no-prisoners-taken style. He helped his side on to 2 more FA Cup trophies and a Cup Winners Cup title in 1963. His 268 matches for the Londoners led to George Best dubbing him the "hardest man I have ever played against".
A man who served the army, broke two bones in his leg against Manchester United (and tried to play on), Mackay was packing no punches. And despite his all-action style, Mackay hated cheating more than the next man.
"Now, when I see players take a little knock and roll around as if they’ve been crippled, trying to get the player sent off, I think that’s disgusting." - On modern-day footballers
#1 Ron Harris
Before the "Captain, Leader, Legend" John Terry, there was the "Chopper" Ron Harris.
His nickname was earned over 795 record-setting matches for the London club as Ron Harris (from Hackney) hacked at the opponent's and captained Chelsea to some of their most memorable moments of the 20th century.
His first trophy for the club was the 1965 League Cup over last year's surprising champions Leicester City. By that time, he had already forged a reputation as one of the league's most no-nonsense defenders. 2 years later, he was handed the armband to replace the departing Venables. He lost his first cup final (the 1967 FA Cup) as captain against Tottenham.
However, his irresistible presence alongside Chelsea greats like Peter Osgood & Bonetti ensured that in 3 years they were back - this time facing the dominant English superpower of the time, Leeds United. The 1970 FA Cup final was a direct face-off between the likes of Ron Harris & Billy Bremner - so it was no surprise that it turned into a brutal physical tie.
He played a crucial role in Chelsea's 2-1 victory; forcing the replay with an assist in the first tie and then crashing into influential playmaker Eddie Gray, leaving him much diminished just minutes into the game.
"Our manager Dave Sexton asked me to... leave my business card early on. After eight minutes I caught up with him... I thought I deserved a pat on my back for my part in Chelsea winning the cup that night," - On fouling Eddie Gray
