#6 Bruce Grobbelaar
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The Zimbabwean is arguably the greatest goalkeeper to have ever played for Liverpool, making 628 appearances for the Reds and winning six league titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups, a European Cup and a UEFA Super Cup. His athletic ability and eccentric style of play saw him become a fan favourite with the Merseyside club.
Grobbelaar was playing for Southampton in 1994 when The Sun accused him of match-fixing during his time at Liverpool to benefit a betting syndicate; he was caught on videotape taking money to voluntarily throw a game.
Grobbelaar however, denied taking the bribe, claiming that he was playing along in the video so he could get enough evidence to go to the police.
Two successive trials both saw the jury unable to agree on a verdict and he, along with the other co-defendants in the case were cleared in November 1997. He then proceeded to sue The Sun for libel, winning £85,000 in the case.
The Sun would then go to challenge the verdict in the House of Lords; where Grobbelaar was found guilty of some level of dishonesty and had his award slashed to £1. To compound his misery, he was also ordered to pay The Sun’s legal expenses, amounting to £500,000, and went bankrupt as a result.
