9 weirdest things banned by football managers and clubs

Managers are the authority figures at their clubs and are responsible for the players who play under them. Clubs own the players for the duration of the contract, so it should come as no surprise if the club or the manager asks a player not to do something.However, some of the most famous coaches and clubs have been in the news for banning or forbidding their players from partaking in simple joys. From outlawing chips to coloured boots to snow sports, managers and clubs have been there and banned that.We look at some of the weirdest things that have been banned or forbidden by football managers and clubs:

#1 Arsene Wenger banned Flamini from cutting his shirt sleeves

Arsenal, as a club, has a weird rule that all the players should wear the same shirt on match day that has been selected by the captain. That means wearing full sleeves or short sleeves for the game is at the captain’s discretion. It's an old tradition that Wenger has maintained even after all this time.

This did not go down well with Frenchman Mathieu Flamini. The midfielder had developed a habit of taking a pair of scissors to his shirt and turning it into a short-sleeved one. Flamini had been involved in a row with the kit man Vic Akers over the same issue.

After a Champions League encounter in 2013, Le Professeur had a public dressing room drill-down with Flamini for breaching club rules.

“I do not like that and he will not do that again,” Arsene Wenger said. “I was surprised he did that; we don't want that.”

Flamini was not a fan of full-sleeved shirts

However, Flamini continued to defy his manager.

“I've been playing at the top level for 10 years. I like to wear short sleeves, that's what I like to do,” the 31-year-old said.

#2 Neil Lennon banned beanie hats

Neil Lennon is supremely gifted, having enviable records both as a player and a manager. Lennon enjoyed a decorated playing career, most notably with Crewe Alexandra, Leicester City and Celtic. He won five Scottish Premier League titles, four Scottish Cups, two Scottish League Cups and was also a UEFA Cup runner-up.

As a manager, his career is as distinguished, if not more, having won three league titles, two domestic cups and leading the side admirably in the Champions League.

He was, therefore, received with optimism when he signed for Bolton Wanderers. However, the first day of training would be a strange one for the players. He banned his players from wearing beanie hats at training, ironically sporting one himself while laying down the rules.

“I don't want players training in hats because they don't play football in hats. If they want to get warm, they should run around,” said the former Celtic boss.

#3 Giovanni Trapattoni banned mushrooms

Paulo di Canio and Trapattoni share a lot of things in common. First, they are Italians. Second, even though they had modest playing careers, they never made good managers. Third, they are not known to enjoy happy player-manager relationships. Fourth, they liked to ban things that the players eat.

Trapattoni, or Trap as he is fondly called, had a thing against mushrooms. The former Northern Ireland manager protested against the humble mushroom which used to be a favoured ingredient in meals during match days.

Trapattoni admitted he was ‘stunned into silence for several seconds’ when he saw Irish players eating mushrooms on match days. When asked to elaborate during a press conference in 2008 with Robbie Keane, Trapattoni pointed to his stomach and Robbie Keane’s before saying, “If they eat mushrooms, I think that maybe the next day they make the players go, 'ooh-ah'.”

Weird, is it not?

#4 David Moyes banned chips

How the ‘Chosen One’ would have wished that his ban on chips would be more vividly remembered than his troubled time at Old Trafford. If being embarrassed on the field with his strange tactics wasn’t enough, Moyes didn’t help his reputation as a rule-enforcer off the field. His training sessions were questioned and ridiculed by the players in public.

The Scot banned players from having low-fat chips – a pre-match tradition at Old Trafford. The Scot was criticized for this strange ban by Rio Ferdinand in his autobiography. “We loved our chips, but Moyes comes in and, after his first week, he says we can’t have chips anymore,” he revealed in his book.

Speaking to a magazine FourFourTwo, the Real Sociedad manager confirmed the ban, stating, “Yes, I did ban chips. It was because a couple of players were overweight and I didn't think chips were good for their diet.”

Ironically, while managing Real Sociedad, the Scot was seen munching on the crispy snack after he was sent off during a match.

#5 Liverpool banned Bjornebye from snow sports

Signing for the mighty Reds is a dream for many players. However, in the case of Norwegian international Stig Inge Bjornebye, the Reds actually clipped his wings. Bjornebye’s father Jo was an expert ski jumper who had competed in the 1968 and the 1972 Winter Olympics.

It's no surprise then that Bjornebye was also inclined towards skiing. Even though he ended up as a professional footballer, his love for ski jumping remained intact. However, after signing for the Reds, the Merseyside club didn’t want their new player to suffer any ski-related injuries which would hamper his Liverpool career.

The club, therefore, had a clause inserted in his contract banning the left back from enjoying the thrill of any snow-based activities.

#6 Werder Bremen banned players from getting inked

Apart from their on-field skills, tattoos also contribute to the identity of modern-day footballers. David Beckham is well-known for repeatedly getting inked, and he set the trend of tattoos becoming the status quo for a lot of aspiring players. What started off as rarity can now be found in abundance on players across all the clubs today.

However, players with tattoos will be hard to find at Werder Bremen. Hamburg’s Eljero Elia had his tattoo turn septic, and the excruciating pain prevented him from donning a jersey. On hearing this, Bremen decided to ban all their players from getting inked.

The Werder general manager, Klaus Allofs, said, “I will not dramatise the danger, but we pointed out that we, in principle, prohibit tattoos that are done during the season. This is a risk that we have to exclude.”

#7 Sir Alex Ferguson banned back flips and coloured boots

Ferguson was a disciplinarian, which was one of the factors that propelled him to greatness at Old Trafford. He was a master tactician too, and someone who could inspire mediocre players to stardom. And Ferguson was always authoritative about what his players could or could not do.

Hence, it wasn’t really surprising when he banned his Portuguese star, Nani, from executing his trademark back-flips goal celebration. Ferguson believed that the goal celebration could result in a career-threatening injury if Nani landed on his head. There was no stopping Nani from his trademark celebration though, as he celebrated his goal against Irish League side Glentoran with a double back flip.

Fergie’s second ban, which seemed draconian for 2010, was the one where Manchester United's junior players were banned from wearing anything other than old-school black while on club business.

“The restrictions are on the youth team,” said defender John O'Shea. “They are told they have to stick to wearing black. Once in the reserve or first-team squad, there are no restrictions, but if you are wearing flashy colors and don't play too well, you're likely to get singled out.”

Not many players were happy with it, but then again, who would have had the guts to oppose Ferguson?

#8 Paolo Di Canio banned everything possible

“This is a complete revolution. Not just in the way we play, but in how we approach everything,” claimed Paulo Di Canio during his very short stint at Sunderland. To his credit, the Italian maverick did revolutionise the art of celebrations by a manager on the touchline. Di Canio also played a crucial role in Sunderland’s survival from relegation in his short stint.

However, his idea of changing things off the field was an eccentric effort at trying to control everything. Items like mobile phones, coffee, mayonnaise, ketchup and fizzy drinks were banned. If that wasn’t enough, he also banned players from joking, gossiping and most notably singing in the shower.

All this was to ensure the players were at their optimal best. Maybe, just maybe, allowing singing would have lifted the spirits of players already disgruntled with such rules.

Even after all this, Di Canio kept looking for reasons behind the player mutiny against him.

#9 Pep Guardiola banned sports cars at training grounds

One of the most successful managers in the Catalan club’s history, Guardiola has always been a hands-on coach. It was his ability to inspire players that yielded him unprecedented success when he was at the helm at the Camp Nou.

There were instances, however, where his strange player engagement and rules caused plenty of anger. Guardiola banned players from driving to training grounds in their sports cars.

Like tattoos, the car a player drives also defines his personality. So naturally, this decision didn’t go down well with some players – especially the magnificent and outspoken Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

“I thought this was ridiculous, it was no one's business what car I drive. So in April, before a match with Almeria, I drove my Ferrari Enzo to work. It caused a scene,” Ibrahimovic revealed.

This was, however, just one of the many spats that the pair had during Ibrahimovic’s troubled stint at Barcelona.