Former Liverpool, Bolton, Leeds United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Newcastle United and Liverpool stars feature alongside current Real Madrid and Barcelona first teamers.
Newcastle United midfielder Joey Barton leaves the Liverpool Magistrates court, 16 January 2008
In many ways, football is like a piece of theatre; the audience is taken on an engaging experience of high’s and low’s, which, more often than not, ends in tragedy. Importantly though, like a lot of great theatre, football requires the men on this list, the pantomime villains.
These are the players we love to hate. More often than not, the teams they play for love them, and everyone else hates them. There are a number of ways in which a player can make themselves a universal figure of dislike. Cheats are often at the forefront of this, as are particularly dirty players, as well as those with a disagreeable attitude or those who have been involved in damning off-field incidents.
All of these players are hated by a vast number of football fans, and although we’ll insist we hate them, with most, there is a part of us that knows the game is enriched by their presence. Here are our top 7 footballers that we love to hate:
7. El Hadji Diouf
El-Hadji Diouf of Leeds United
One of the most easily detestable figures in the history of the game, El Hadji Diouf made his name with Senegal at the 2002 World Cup, where, at the age of 21, he was one of the breakout stars of the competition. His performances earned him a move to Liverpool and he played in Britain for 12 years, turning out for the likes of Bolton, Rangers and Leeds. He has been involved in driving bans, spitting incidents, racial slurs, taunting the seriously injured, brawls and many more both minor and serious transgressions which have made him one of the most hated men in world football.
6. Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole really was a pantomime villain in England before his departure to Roma in 2014. He got on the wrong side of Arsenal supporters when he was supposedly ‘tapped up’ by Chelsea and left the Gunners for the Blues in 2006. Cole also lost a lot of popular support after allegations surfaced that he had cheated on his wife, Cheryl Cole. He has also had incidents with the police in 2009 and driving offences, as well as a bizarre incident in 2011 when he shot a 21-year-old student on work experience at Chelsea’s training ground with an air rifle. Cole is England’s most capped full-back of all-time, with 107 caps, and arguably the country’s best player over the past decade.
5. Cristiano Ronaldo
Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo (R) celebrates after scoring during the Euro 2012 football championships match Portugal vs. Netherlands, on June 17, 2012
Whilst most on this list are hated by almost all those who do not support the club they play for, and some even hated by those who do support the club they play for, Ronaldo does not fall into that category. Even those who do dislike the Portuguese winger simply have to sit back and marvel at the magic of Ronaldo. The dislike of Ronaldo can be put down to a number of things. Firstly – his antics, when Ronaldo arrived in the Premier League as an 18-year-old with a poor complexion and some fancy tricks, but not a fat lot else, he seemed to have a tendency for taking a tumble. Things really came to a head when Ronaldo was seen winking at the Portugal bench after convincing the referee to send his teammate Wayne Rooney off at the 2006 World Cup.
Most of the dislike aimed at Ronaldo though, is down to his arrogance. Unlike someone like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ronaldo’s ego does not come across as endearing or comical, but rather more nauseating. In football, confidence and self-belief can be crucial; and some would argue that Ronaldo’s insistence that he is the best player in the world has seen his fallacy come true. Conversely, one could easily point out that his main competitor for such a title, and the man many people consider his only superior, Lionel Messi, is unselfish, humble and rarely makes such audacious claims about himself.
4. Joey Barton
If Ronaldo is a case of justified arrogance, then Joey Barton may be the opposite. Barton boldly claimed in 2011 that he was the best English midfielder; Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard may have disagreed, whilst Michael Carrick, Gareth Barry, James Milner, Scott Parker, Jordan Henderson and quite frankly about 10 to 15 others all would have had grounds to think otherwise. Barton is currently serving a lengthy ban due to betting violations, and has only played once for England, in 2007, but what he lacks in ability he more than makes up for in arrogance and thuggery.
Barton’s incidents are disgraceful and plentiful; he stubbed a cigarette out in a youth player’s eye, fought a teenage fan and has been involved in a drunken brawl. In total, Barton has been convicted twice on charges of violence off the field and been charged three times for violent conduct on the pitch. Despite having more lives than a cat and claiming to be a changed man after every incident, now 34, Barton shows little signs of maturing.
3. John Terry
Chelsea FC football player John Terry arrives at Westminster Magistrates court to stand trial for allegedly racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, on July 9, 2012 in London, England.
When it comes to players who are loved by their own fans and hated by all else, no one really comes close to John Terry. With near God-like status at Chelsea, a banner reading ‘Captain, Leader, Legend’, can be spotted at every game at Stamford Bridge, but outside the four walls of Chelsea’s home ground, Terry is not so loved. In 2001, days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Terry and two teammates were fined for mocking American tourists about the attacks. Months later, Terry was charged with assault after a confrontation with a bouncer outside a nightclub. In 2010, Terry filed a super-injection to prevent the world’s media from reporting on a story regarding himself and his teammate Wayne Bridge’s wife. A week later, the injection was lifted, and the story was national news.
Terry was stripped of the England captaincy and England performed poorly at the 2010 World Cup. In 2011, Terry was involved in a racial abuse incident with Anton Ferdinand, for which he was handed a lenient four game ban and a £220,000 fine. One of the most hated men in the game, Terry now plays in the Championship for Aston Villa.
2. Sergio Ramos
Sergio Ramos is a born winner. He has won some 20 trophies in his career to date, including La Liga, the Champions League, the World Cup and European Championships, but that doesn’t change the fact that Ramos is incredibly irritating. A man happy to kick lumps out of Lionel Messi for 90 minutes, before diving and rolling around to get an opposition player sent off when the slightest or even no contact is made on him. Ramos has the most red cards of any player in Real Madrid history and supposedly has the third most in football history.
1. Luis Suarez
This combo of 2 photos shows Italy’s defender Giorgio Chiellini showing an apparent bitemark and Uruguay forward Luis Suarez holding his teeth after the incident
Cheating, racism, biting, the type of things one might dislike a player for, Suarez has done them all, and some on multiple occasions. Suarez’s first and most minor incident came in 2010, when everyone’s second team, Ghana, played Uruguay. The shot that would have won Ghana the game was saved by Suarez using his hand, epitomising his win at all costs attitude. Uruguay went on to win the game.
The second, more serious offence, was biting PSV player Otman Bakkal, whilst playing for Ajax. He was banned for only two games, but moved to Liverpool at the end of the season, where controversy followed him. In 2011, Suarez was involved in a racial abuse scandal with Patrice Evra. He was given an eight match ban and fined. In 2013, Suarez was at it again, biting Branislav Ivanovic this time, he was banned for ten games. After biting two players, Suarez still wasn’t done, and chose to bite Giorgio Chiellini on the biggest stage, at the 2014 World Cup. A racist, cheating cannibal, as he has been described, despite being a tremendous player, Suarez is understandably among the most hated men in football.
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