Due to football being a high-intensity game, emotions tend to boil over on the pitch. You often see players giving it their all in the 90 odd minutes they are on the field – fighting for every header, going in for 50-50 tackles and not giving their opponents any space to breathe.
This, therefore, opens up the possibility for altercations, with the players often clashing when any of the aforementioned incidents get out of control.
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As a result, they are often disciplined and receive yellow and red cards on a common basis. While it might be something that is most definitely a necessity, some players have built a reputation around having an incredibly poor disciplinary record.
Also read: 5 players who were never booked
On that note, take a look at the five most ‘dirty’ players in the game.
#5 Lee Cattermole
Lee Cattermole is the archetypical English player – strong, aggressive and hard in the tackle. His preferred role as a defensive midfielder also sees him regularly having to contest for 50/50s in the middle of the park, with his role often crucial in protecting the defence.
Coming up through the ranks at Middlesbrough and then Wigan Athletic, it was with Sunderland in the Premier League that Cattermole truly began to make a name for himself, albeit for his increasingly poor disciplinary record.
While you can’t often criticise his performances for the team, his ill-judged tackles and rash all-or-nothing attitude have seen him be booked 32 times and receive four red cards. Take into account previous infractions and he’s been red-carded a total of eight times already, which is also the number of goals he’s scored at senior level.
Also, considering that he’s still only 28, he could easily surpass the Premier League record for most number of red cards. He also holds the unfortunate record of being the player with the lowest ratio of games per card, receiving a booking every 2.9 games on average.
During Gus Poyet’s reign as Sunderland boss, the hardman also managed to get under the Uruguayan’s skin, resulting in Poyet benching the player and criticising him for his ‘really, really stupid’ on-field behaviour.
#4 Joey Barton
It comes as no surprise to see Joey Barton on this list. The Englishman’s list of offences is the envy of any hardened criminal. Barton’s rap sheet includes putting a cigarette out in a youth team member’s eye, as well as assaulting a teammate. His most recent run-in was with the Scottish FA regarding the placing of over 1260 bets over the past 10 years.
One of the most outspoken players of the modern era, his Twitter rants are sure to be a thing of folklore, however, as a player, he definitely deserves a place in almost any team, considering he’s had a career spanning clubs such as Marseille, Manchester City, Newcastle United and quite a few more.
However, the midfielder often finds himself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. While the final day of the 2011/12 season will live on in the memory of all City fans forever, one of the more infamous incidents on that day was Barton getting sent off and unceremoniously trying to pick a fight with every City player on his way out.
All these and his general on-field demeanour have seen him rack up 84 cards in his Premier League career – with six being red cards and the other 78 being yellows.
#3 Roy Keane
Keane had a fairly remarkable playing career with Manchester United, winning seven Premier League titles, four FA Cups and the 1998/99 Champions League, and even captaining the club before eventually falling out with Sir Alex Ferguson. The Irishman was an important part of a United team on the rise, with his hard-tackling and in-your-face attitude courting both compliments and criticisms alike.
His bullish nature saw him get into many altercations on the field, and his rivalry with Arsenal’s Patrick Viera was one of the defining feuds of the previous decade. Games between Arsenal and Manchester United were often title-deciding affairs, and the midfield battle between the two was legendary, with both players unwilling to give an inch.
An image that comes to mind when anyone mentions Keane is his horror, potentially leg-breaking tackle on Manchester City’s Alf-Inge Haaland in 2001, with the midfielder even admitting that he did not regret it and that it was an act of revenge for a previous incident.
This, of course, also meant that he was often on the receiving end of bookings, with Keane totalling 12 red cards in the course of his career.
#2 Patrick Vieira
When Roy Keane is on the list, it is assured that Patrick Vieira would make an appearance as well. The Frenchman had a phenomenally successful playing career, turning out for the likes of Milan, Arsenal, Juventus, Internazionale and Manchester City, winning seven League titles, five FA Cups and two Supercopa Italianas. He also won both the FIFA World Cup and European Championships with France’s golden generation, collecting many other individual honours along the way.
While Vieira was never one to go in for leg-breaking tackles like his rival Keane, he was still a hard tackler and had a penchant for losing his cool during games, often getting into arguments with officials.
This saw him collect eight red cards during the course of his Premier League career with Arsenal, the joint-highest ever along with Richard Dunne and Duncan Ferguson. His ratio for games per card is also the 3rd highest among all players; with his 3.7 games per card behind only Lee Cattermole and Joey Barton.
While he did calm down in the later stages of his career, he still managed to rack up another four reds, taking his total to 12 and definitely earning his place on this list.
#1 Sergio Ramos
Everyone says that English football is the most unforgiving, harsh and physical football that you’ll ever see. So, the fact that four of the top five players on this list have played a majority of their career on English shores is not surprising. And yet, the No. 1 player on the list is from Spain, a country that prides itself in playing football the right way.
Sergio Ramos has spent his entire time in Spain, first turning out for Sevilla, before going on to become a legendary figure at Real Madrid. His time at the club has also seen him lift two Champions League titles, three league titles, two Super Cups, two FIFA Club World Cups and two Copa Del Reys. The defender has also won two European Championships and a FIFA World Cup with Spain, a trophy cabinet that any player in the world would be jealous off and one that will see him go down as one of the greatest players of all time.
But what’s arguably the most interesting statistic is that the defender has amassed an absolutely incredible 21 red cards in his Real Madrid career, and is the La Liga’s all-time leader in red cards.
He’s also accumulated a further 211 yellow cards in 692 career appearances for Sevilla, Real Madrid and Spain combined. The defender is by no means a dirty player, but his lack of discipline and unnecessary time-wasting often see him go into the book for completely avoidable reasons.
